Mistakes Have Consequences
by Zero Dark Thirty
Summary: Two untenable choices. Darned if you do, darned if you don't. The only thing you can do is pick the lesser of two evils. Ah well, needs must. Perseus Jackson must go. He is a potential threat to those around him. 300 years later, there is a simple question that confronts us all. With Percy gone, who will stop Kronos and save the gods?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Wow. This option was the overwhelming favorite between the choices, even though it was up for less than a day. I got almost 10 answers for option A and only one for option B. Not to worry, they both will get done eventually. Oh, and I spent some time today thinking. I now have several story ideas. As in, beyond my three I have going now, AND the next two, I still have about seven other story ideas. And quite frankly, I won't be able to do them all. So, I am going to give them away. If any one reading this needs a storyline, I can and will provide one. If asked, I will send the person asking summaries of all the options and they can pick one. All I ask is that you acknowledge I came up with the storyline. If anyone bothers to use this, it is first come first serve. I believe there are endless ideas out there, and as such, believe everyone deserves a chance to write. I know how it feels to want to write yet not think of a good idea. That was how I was for a few days before I started HITS. If you need help, just ask. Now, let us begin a new saga. Yes, this is PerZoe, it is my OTP. I will eventually write a different pairing, as ridiculous as that sounds. Sorry for the long AN. Here we go!**

* * *

I couldn't believe it. After all I had done, this is how they repay me. I must have heard wrong. I glanced around and saw the beauty of then mountain, yet I had no eyes for it. I decide to ask. "What?"

Zeus nodded. "You heard me. We want you to stay away from the other demigods. Nothing personal you understand. It's just that, more than half the council believes you could be, and I quote, a "destabilizeing influence". Between your dislike for several Olympic gods, and your experience in Tartarus, and your anger for us not listening to our promises, and Prometheus messing with you... They decided it wasn't worth the risk that you might "accidentally" poison their minds against us."

I glared at them. Several refused to meet my gaze. "So let me get this straight. I save you all, not once but twice, waste years of my life, watch my friends die, get kidnapped, all for the "honor" of defending Olympus, and you seriously think I would do that? My fatal flaw is loyally idiots. And I get banished?" I shook my head in disbelief.

Athena spoke up. "It's not banishment." She stated in a bored tone of voice.

I spun on her. "And you. Where do you get off trying to hurt me? I know you don't want me with Annabeth. I know you have poisoned her mind against me recently. Well get the fuck over yourself and your pride. Just because you are a god doesn't give you the privilege to ruin lives. And if this is not banishment, what is? Stay away from the camps. Stay away from demigods. I get it. You don't want me anymore."

I started to walk away. "Oh, one more thing." I turned back for a second. "You have turned your most loyal allie into an opponent. You have made a horrible enemy this day. When your children are dying and suffering, when you call for aid as you are being destroyed... I won't come. I won't answer the call. Remember this day, as this was the day you sealed the fate of Olympus. I was on my way here to report some disturbing information I found, but now... Now I will keep it to myself and let you guys get surprised. Third times the charm they say. Let's see if that's true. I hope it is." And with that, I walked out. Behind me, I heard Zeus roar "Council dismissed!" and the sound of several gods flashing out. I felt a tap on my shoulder and an urgent voice.

"Pssst, Percy!" I wheeled to find Hephastus and Aphrodite standing behind me. "We just want you to know, we and several other gods don't agree. In fact, they are distracting Zeus as we speak so we can talk to you." Hephastus looked around furtively, but the only beings in sight were the Muses, getting ready for a concert. He slipped something into my hand, wrapped in oilcloth. I started to open it and he stopped me. "No, not yet, wait until we leave we don't have much time. That is first from me, my wife, and Hades. The others gift is holding off Zeus and using their powers to fetch this." He waved a hand and a small sack appered in it hand. "You have full permission to eat it. May our gift prove to be a useful guide and companion for you." He and Aphrodite started to flash away, but then he stopped. "Oh and for what it's worth... I'm sorry about Bianca." And with that, he was gone, leaving me staring out over the edge of Olympus.

After they left, Percy opened the wad of oilcloth. Inside was what could only be a princely gift. A pair of beautiful silver and gold hunting knives as long as my forearm were there. They were decorated with scenes from my life. I looked and saw several I recognized, fetching the Golden Fleece, retrieving the master bolt, fighting Kronos, falling into Tartarus. I snorted when I saw one of me leaving the throne room. There were also several I didn't understand, some of them showed a camp high on a mountain, Olympus in flames, and a girl and I sitting on a cliff together. I laughed I my head. Yeah right, like I would ever find a girl to be my other half. The blades buzzed almost angrily, and I nearly dropped them.

"What was that?" I asked myself. "It's almost as if it was angry with me for what i said..." The blades vibrates again, but this time a more contented sound, as if in approval. "Wait a minute... Oh Hades." Which was ironic, as he was the subject of my curse. Hades, Hephastus, and Aphrodite. It made perfect sense. Hades to ressurect someone, Hephastus to work them into the blade, and Aphrodite means it must be a girl. I addressed the blades, feeling a little foolish.

"Who are you?" He asked absently. The hunting knives seemed to give off a dull hum in response. Percy would have thrown it at the wall and left it alone for a few days but he'd been theorising the entire time he'd had it that there was more to the blade than Hephaestus had let on.

"Do I know you?" He'd find out the secrets of the sword if it killed him. The sword gave a positive hum. "OK, that sounded like a yes." Percy said, grabbing the knives and heading outside. "So how do I free you? I'm assuming that you're a person or beast inside my knives, or that you are the knife."

"If I ask you nicely will you come out?" The set hummed depressively. No, it was definitely trapped in there. There was no choice in the matter, at least not yet.

Maybe I'm just not asking the right questions. But I guess it will have to wait for now, I'm not sure how to free you. But you're serving me just as well as my weapon rather than as the person you are. I hope I'm doing the right thing by keeping you here and not taking you to Hephaestus."

After that, I opened the sack and saw a sight I had only seen once before. A golden apple of immortality, from the garden of the Hespirides. I took it out and held it. It was surprisingly light and shimmered in the morning light. I sighed. Now I had to think. To eat, or not to eat; that is the question.


	2. Chapter 2 The reveal

Mistakes have Consequences.

20 years later...

Zeus POV

Zeus was pacing back and forth in his private suite of rooms. He has been walking for so long he had almost worn a groove in the floor. Why you ask? Because he was worried. The Roman camp had sustained _another_ attack. That was the fourth inside of a week between the two camps. Demigods had started to go missing before satyrs could get to them. Half bloods that left for the summer were constantly in danger. He may not normally look like it, but he cared for his children, and, by extension, their children(with the exception of Poseidon and Hades.). Also, the last two times attacks had ratcheted up were before the second Titan war and the war with Gaea. He had found his thoughts increasingly drifting toward the demigod in pseudo "exile". What was it Jackson had said? "I found some disturbing news... They say third times the charm" That did not have many interpretations. There had been several events that had happened twice in the history of the gods. The most notable were Typhon, Kronos, and Gaea. Without the aid of the strongest and most experienced demigod ever, the gods stood little chance, especially when they had barely survived any of those events anyway. He came to a decision and flicked a drachma into the air. "Iris, please show me Artemis." The air shimmered and connected them. He did not need a rainbow, perks of being the lord of the air. The screen showed Artemis in her tent, thinking. She was sitting on a bear pelt, with it being winter, she had her tent packed with the spoils from her many hunts.

"Artemis." He called. Her head snapped up and focused on him. "Yes?"

"I need you to find Jackson and discover what he knows. Surely you have noticed the increase in monster activity recently."

She nodded slowly. "Yes. I have. Any idea where he might be?"

"No idea. If I had to guess, I would say he would get as far away as he can get from Olympus, so I would say the northwestern states would be your best bet. Plus, there are several female demigods coming of age in northern Oregon. They are all maidens and will be targeted by monsters soon. You might be able to get some new hunters out of this trip." That sealed the deal. She gracefully jumped to her feet and bowed.

"We will leave at once." She turned and left the tent into the cold air, calling for the hunters to pack up and be ready to move. Zeus ended the Iris message, sure that the mission was in capable hands.

(Insert line break here)

Northern Oregon...

Artemis POV

Artemis led her hunters warily forward. According to the directions they had received, the house was a good distance out in the country. This made a perfect, isolated target. She sniffed the air and smelled smoke. That wasn't a good sign. She increased her speed until she was flat out sprinting, leaving the majority of hunters behind. Only the older and more experienced ones could keep up, if only for a short distance. She crested a hill and stared at the sight below. What was once a house was now nothing but a smoldering ruin. Rubble lay everywhere. There were also a lot of tracks in the area. Straining her sight, she could see a group of cloaked figures hurrying off into the trees about two miles out. She turned to her hunters. "Thalia, Phoebe, come with me. The rest of you spread out and search the area." She looked at the aforementioned duo. "Let's go." And with that, the three took off in hot pursuit.

Two hours later, they had closed the gap, yet had still not caught the target. They were moving fast enough to stay ahead of one of the fastest Olympians, and two of her best hunters. Finally, the pursued reached a mountain and started to trek uphill through the deep snow. This enabled the chasers to catch them. They stopped at the base of the mountain. Artemis could now see three of the group were the girls they came here to rescue. She drew her bow. "Halt, give us the girls, and I will give you a quick death."

The lead figure turned around. "How about no. I happen to enjoy being alive myself." He addressed the rest of them. "Keep going. I'll handle them."

"Oh you will handle us will you?" Phoebe shouted. "Take this!" She shot an arrow at him but he simply caught it, unimpressed.

"Really? That was the best you could do? I expected more from the oldest hunter Artemis has." To Thalia, his voice and mannerisms seemed familiar.

"Percy?"

The figure made a mocking bow. "In the flesh. And what can is do for the three of you, hmmmm?"

Artemis readied her bow. "Why did you kidnap the girls?" He snorted.

"It's quite simple. I didn't. If you had bothered to use your brain, oh almighty hunter, you would have seen we rescued them and killed the monsters. And Artemis, I know what you are here for, and my answer is no. You lost the information when you banished me." Thalia looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean, banished? What did you do wrong?"

"Oh it is quite simple really. You see, Artemis-" he was cut off as Artemis lunged at him and tried to cut him. He jumped back and narrowed his eyes. But before he could say anything, Thalia did first.

"What was that for milady? He hadn't done anything wrong, and you tried to sneak attack him? And you," She said, addressing Percy. "Why won't you tell her? She voted to not kill you and voted for you to stay."

He roared in disbelief. "She said WHAT?" He took the knives from his side and threw them at Artemis. There was a bright flash of light that blinded everyone, and when it cleared, Artemis was pinned down with a knife to her throat, held their by a familiar figure.

"Z-Zoe?" Artemis stammered. The figure nodded.

"In the flesh." She said, shaking her head and clearing the falling snow from her braid. "How dare you lie to your hunters? Thalia, she was the deciding vote to banish him." She said, staring at her former mistress with a stony glare.

Thalia exploded. "What?" She looked at Artemis in betrayal. "You lied to me? After all I have done for you, i trusted you, yet you sold out my best friend."

"Zoe, that's enough." Percy said. She nodded, stood up, sheathed her weapon, and walked over to stand by his side.

Thalia glared at Artemis. "If this is how you treat your hunters, I'm out." She took off her circlet and threw at Artemis. "Find a new lieutenant, for me you will have no longer." She walked in the direction of Percy. "Mind if I come with you?"

He shrugged. "No problem. I missed you Thals."

Phoebe was also glaring at Artemis. "I want out to. If we can't trust you, we can't trust anyone in the hunt." She looked up. "Can I tag along?"

This time Zoe spoke up. "Sure." Phoebe walked over and pulled her into a hug. "It's good to see you again."

The goddess of the hunt decided to speak up. "Zoe, what are you doing with him? Come back to the hunt."

Zoe snorted. "There is about a snowballs chance in hell of that happening. You are not the friend I had for two thousand years. Plus," she blushed slightly as she spoke. "He is my best friend." She strode forward and knocked her out, before walking back to Percy. "Time to go. The rest of the hunt will be here soon and I would like to be gone by then. As she finished speaking there was a flash of light as she changed into hunting knives. Thalia and Phoebe both stared in disbelief. Percy chuckled. "I'll tell you on the way. Come on." And with that, he turned and continued up the mountain.


	3. Chapter 3 The Council

**MHC Chapter 3**

 **Well, how should i put this... Thanks, i guess, to** **perabdibda and Jessica for giving me the kick to finish the last section of the chapter. But please, in future, don't ask me to update faster. I have a life outside of writing, and i am just a young teenager with all the problems high school and college searching brings. Song I am listening to right now,(decided to try this) I Love This Life by LOCASH**

Percy led them up the mountain, until they reached the top. He turned to the two extra companions they had picked up. "I'm sorry, but we are going to need to blindfold you for this part. No offense, but i haven't been around either of you enough to ensure you won't say something about it you shouldn't." He pulled two strips of cloth out of his pocket and held them out to the duo. The ex-hunters quickly and expertly took the blindfolds and tied them on. After making sure they were on securely, Thalia heard Percy mutter a few words quietly, too low for her to hear, then the blindfold was removed and Thalia looked out over an awe-inspiring sight.

* * *

ZEUS POV

I was sitting in my throne, having a delivery dropped off by Hermes, when the throne room doors opened and Artemis crawled in before falling on her face. Hermes ran over and turned her onto her side. Her face was puffy from crying, with a large bruise on her chin. Her eyes showed two things not normally associated with her. Desperation and helplessness. Her uniform was ragged, as if she had run a great distance without caring about her appearance. She latched onto Hermes as if he was a lifeline and started crying on his shoulder. He looked with worried eyes at her father. "Zeus, help me!" He whispered. Now he was the one who looked desperate, as he should considering what could happen to him when Artemis realizes what she's doing. I quickly summoned Apollo to come help, and he in turn dashed over as well. While they might fight a lot, and Artemis might get irritated with him, the twins were still as close as he had ever seen anyone. He quickly checked her over and looked up.

"Physically, she is fine." He reported. "However, she has had great emotional distress, and is exhausted from her exertion. It is almost as if she ran all the way across America."

"Council meeting." The goddess in question murmured, from her position huddled on the floor. "Urgent."

I threw my master bolt into the sky. As much as i tried to deny it, i loved drama. The other Council members flashed in, and looked askance at the normally stoic Artemis. "Artemis, could you tell us what happened?" I asked gently.

She sniffled and looked up. "My hunters-" That was as far as she got before bursting into tears, while still holding onto the now terrified Hermes. After she eventually recovered, the whole council looked at her in disbelief. Artemis was crying? Apollo was the first to respond.

"What about your hunters? I can sense they are still in good health. What happened?"

She looked at Zeus first. "I did what you told me. I went to find Percy. Then we found the burned down remains of a house in Oregon, where a few maidens had lived, i was planning on asking them to join the hunt. I told the rest of the hunters to search for any survivors while i took Thalia and Phoebe with me on ahead. We caught up with both the three maidens and a group of others wearing cloaks. One of them told the others to go on ahead when i told them to stop. Phoebe fired an arrow at him and he caught it with one hand. Then he revealed himself. It was Percy." At this point Poseidon and a few others smiled at the demonstration of his skills. "He then coldly explained how i was wrong and he had saved the girls, after i thought he had kidnapped them. Thalia asked why he was behaving this way towards me, after I had voted to stop his banishment." She looked down in shame. "I lied to her about that. Percy started to call me on it and I... I snapped. I tried to sneak attack him so he would be silent. That only served for him to dodge and make him look like the victim in Thalia's eyes, and further alienate her. Once she told him what i claimed, he got angry and thew a pair of knives a me. A second later, i was pinned down with Zoe-" Her voice cracked at this point, and she gulped. "With Zoe pinning me down and with a knife to my throat." The throne room exploded with ejaculations of disbelief coming from around the room. The chatter continued until Poseidon rose from his seat.

"Silence!" He thundered. "I would like to hear the conclusion to this. Please, continue." He sat back down.

Artemis found her voice and continued. "After Zoe yelled at me for a little while, Percy told her to stop. She listened and went over to stand beside him. Then Thalia and Phoebe both yelled at me and left the hunt and went with him too. I tired to get Zoe to come back to the hunt. She said, and i quote, "There is about a snowballs chance in hell of that happening. And he is my best friend." Then she knocked me out and when i came to they were gone. Percy said to tell you that we lost any information he may have given us when we banished him."

I stood up from my throne, angry. "How dare he attack my daughter-" That was a far as i got before a sword and trident were held at my throat.

"How dare he? How dare _you?_ He was attacked and defended himself. And you banished him! Hades-" Here Poseidon glanced at Hades. "Sorry brother. Anyway, she was the deciding vote in his banishment. I think she is rather lucky that he is not sadistic. I wouldn't have blamed him if he had done more to beat her up then simply knocking her out. But no, he is too good for that."

I glanced around the room, seeking support. I got little. Many of the gods were looking at me with contempt. When Ares spoke up, it was a low rumble. "Don't look to me for help." He changed into Mars. "As Mars, i respect duty and honor, and you have neither. While i admit i made a bad decision in letting me be bullied into supporting you those ten years ago, i have since sought him out and made amends. I am grateful he chose to graciously forgive me, even after i helped derail his life. I won't support you in any action you choose to take against him." He then stood up and flashed out.

 **A/N Someone mentioned something about Phoebe not being all buddy buddy with Percy. That is true. However, i feel that Phoebe is the kind of person who would take Artemis lying to her badly, especially considering how long the two have been together. She is also the daughter of Ares(I think) Which means rash spur of the moment decisions. Also, remember how the hunt could construe their viewpoint of Percy. He was always nice to the hunters, saved their mistress, fought alongside them and their biggest man hater and saw how dedicated he was to Annabeth. She won't stay with the others, she will strike out on her own, kind of being a lone wolf. Maybe i could have her get her own group of hunters together, who knows? That could be a fun twist, especially if she runs into Artemis later on. Please continue to point out things you are curious about, i can and do make mistakes. I will try to insert a little PerZoe fluff in the next chapter. See Ya later!**

 **-Zero**


	4. Chapter 4 The introduction

**Song I'm listening too- People are Crazy by Billy Currington**

Thalia POV

Dear Diary

I have now been in the camp which Percy has made for several days, and still I am speechless on how to describe it. I feel it the perfect mix between nature and buildings. It's a deep valley far in the mountains, a secret place. At dawn the sunlight comes filtering like golden dust through the oaks and elms and sycamores. It is quiet; you can almost hear the sound of peace. Light blue smoke drifts up from the fires, mingling with the green verdant leaves above. Soft moss and dark green grass coat the forest floor, and there are flowers- columbines, foxgloves, bluebells, wood anemones and ground ivy. Ferns grow there too. Sometimes I would lie among them at dawn, catching dewdrops on my tongue. Let me stop there, I have sufficiently described one section, now let me describe the other. The dwellings are beautiful, the amazing blend between beauty and functionality. Many of the buildings are carved into the sides of a hill, or into the trees. It was like how I imagined hobbit holes, or the dwellings of elves that exist in fairy tales. The workmanship is simply incredible. Anything you can imagine seeing, somewhere, it is carved into the swirls of wood adorning the side of houses. I have been told that there is one being that does all the workmanship. Its imagination must be truly beyond compare, for I have never seen such skill, and the scenes showed… They are from every part of history, some showing what has been, others showing what is currently happening, and others that still show events yet to be. You must not look too deeply; otherwise you will be put in almost a trancelike state by the beauty, and only wake up hours later. Percy has somehow created a place, a special dwelling, for mortals, demigods and monsters lived here in harmony. When I asked the Kelp Head about it, he pointed out, rather brusquely I might add, that this is a place of peace, they have sworn not to disturb it, and fight for its defense and the defense of others only if needed. Plus, demigods need to get over their prejudices. Demigods will simply attack a monster sometimes just because they are afraid and it happens to be nearby. It is even worse for the monsters of legend, for everyone wants to fight them. I still have not seen the extant of this valley. I have seen a few other interesting characters who I do not think belong to the Greek Pantheon. Selene, the Titaness of the moon, has formed a friendship with him, and has a dwelling (so I'm told) at one end of the valley. Phoebe left after a day or two. She felt she couldn't live in close proximity to monsters and boys, so she struck out on her own. Oh! I nearly forgot to mention. Percy has a daughter now. He saved her and then adopted her. Her name is Chloe, and she is a clear sighted mortal. She is a beautiful little thing, with straight blonde hair and steel gray eyes. She actually looks like Annabeth did at a younger age, minus the princess curls. She has a very rapid fire way of speaking. What do I spend my time doing normally? During the day, I would stroll through the wild, and look up at the veritable giants of trees that towered over me. Golden beams of sunlight streamed through the canopy, perfectly catching the motes of dust. It truly is almost as if I stepped into a different world. At night, I could sit outside and look up at the stars. They seem much closer and brighter than I have ever seen them. The same constellations were still in the sky, including the huntress. This diverted my attention onto the subject of Zoe. I sighed. Zoe. Such an enigma. She is supposed to be dead, yet she isn't, and seems to be able to transform into a pair of hunting knives that almost have a sentient presence to it. Percy neglected to inform me of how that came about, and he would always change the subject when I asked. She seems to be able to tolerate males more now, and has become friends with Percy and a few others. When I say others, I mean demigods that Percy knew that vanished and were presumed dead. And Percy… well, she might be something more than friends with him. She may not admit it, at least not publically. Yet I have seen the way she looks at him. When I asked him if they were together, he shrugged. I will quote him. "Define together?"

"Have you gone on a date?"

"Yes."

"Have you kissed?"

"Yes. We are together, unofficially at least. I think. I could be wrong."

I decided to end my entry there. I leaned back and shut my diary. I flipped off the lamp at the desk I was using, and flopped onto my bed. I stared up at the ceiling as sleep slowly claimed me.

* * *

Percy POV

I sat on the couch at my house, with Zoe next to me. I thought back over the last ten years. I could never have imagined I would be able to do this. This "not really exile" (note the quotations) has actually been the best thing that could have happened to me. I have friends, a place that needs me. I no longer am thrown into a war every year or two. I don't have to listen to the gods anymore. If they ever came to try to come get me, they would have a Hades of a surprise. If I really needed to, there was a place at the end of the valley I could seek sanctuary at. It was ruled by a power even I did not understand. Zoe had been with me for the entire decade, as a weapon for the first three years before I got her out, and seven as a constant friend and companion. And for the last two years… something more. Something about this valley slowed or stopped ageing for anyone in the valley. Apparently, this was what had spawned the legend of Rip Van Winkle. Some guy had stumbled in and fell asleep, and came back out decades later. Zoe snuggled into me even further as she sat on my lap, then leaned up and kissed me. We were currently watching The Mask of Zorro, and had just finished. As she fell asleep on me, I stroked her long black braid and painted a gentle kiss on her forehead as she started drifting away. I gently picked her up and took her to her bed and slowly put her down. She grabbed onto me and refused to let go, so I let her pull me down so I was next to her, and continued stroking her hair and holding her as she fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5 Three Sided Battle Royale!

**As regards updates there will usually be one on Tuesday or Thursday, another on the weekend, and one other somewhere in between. Flashbacks will explain the drastic situation soon, don't worry. Oh, i have come up with more story ideas and only one person has asked about it. One! If i don't get them off my chest, i will be forced to start several other stories. That would mean my "big three" of current stories would get fewer and slower updates, so please! Ask!**

280 years later...

It had finally happened. Kronos had risen again. He had literally strode up to camp half-blood and killed Peleus with a single swing of his scythe. The gods had been caught completely unawares. While there had been many worrying signs, the gods, lead by Zeus, had done their utmost to ignore them and sweep them under the rug. Most felt it would not be possible for him to recover this soon, if at all. Come on, it had taken thousands of year for him to return last time. Camp Jupiter had been completely destroyed and razed to the ground. It was only thanks to Neptune that any of the Romans had survived at all. He had sent sea creatures to carry the survivors away down the coast. Once they returned to land, the Romans have been fighting a rearguard action as they slowly retreated across the country. They are only just entering Oklahoma. Yet it is obvious to the beings watching from above that it was hopeless. The attempt, while valiant, was doomed from the start. A quarter of the force had already been killed, and they were being overwhelmed. Traitors inside the camp had disabled the Pegasi, giant eagles, and SUV s. The ancient laws were still in place and they were unwilling, or unable to do anything, It all amounted to the same thing anyway.

Zeus finally decided to put his foot down. "Enough! While i might not care for most demigods i will not watch them be slaughtered before my eyes! Does anyone have any ideas on how to help? I am aware of the loophole Artemis uses, yet she and her hunters are required to stay and protect camp half blood. If Kronos or his monsters attack her, that gives the rest of us an excuse to come into the battle."

Surprisingly it was Dionysus who spoke up. "I cannot see a way to help, other than continue what Ares, Hephaestus and I are doing. Asking the Egyptians for aid wouldn't work, they are fighting their own battles right now." The other gods glanced at the three mentioned gods. It was true, they were doing everything they could to help. Grape vines kept randomly tripping monsters, a few campers glowed with the blessing of Mars, and the metal weapons of the demigods were remarkably effective. Plus the trio also kept cheerfully overpowering their kids strikes whenever possible.

Hestia was the next to speak. "The avenue of last resort would be to talk to Perseus and hope for a miracle from him. I can contact him, but be warned he likely will not help."

Aphrodite stood up in her turn. "Do it. With Kronos back, we need to get all the help we can. Plus every minute my poor daughters fight of monsters their hair and makeup get worse."

Hestia nodded and jumped off her throne. She strode out of the throne room while pulling a device out of her robes and beginning to talk into it. She came back a few minutes later. "He will come to talk but makes no promises. He is under my protection while he and anyone who come with him are anywhere near here. Ignore this warning at your own peril." She strode to her throne and took a seat on her throne.

A minute later the doors were flung open and three figures strode into the room. One was unmistakably Percy Jackson, while the other two were both clad in silver. One was Zoe Nightshade, and as soon as Artemis saw her she gave a small whimper. The other no one recognized. She was tall, as tall as Percy, with pale skin and long black hair, much like Zoe. She had long wings folded behind her back and a golden diadem upon her head. She radiated a similar kind of light as Artemis, but this was much stronger and brighter, and there was an intense glow around her. It was almost like liquid moonlight flowed from her. She also emitted a feel of nature, almost like Pan did at the height of his power. Percy stooped in the middle of the room and looked around. "So this is what the council has fallen to eh? Begging for the help of an old banished demigod against big, bad Kronos. Pitiful really. Now-" He snapped his fingers and there was a bright glare in the room. When it faded, all the demigods from both camps, including the Romans, stood there stunned. "That was a gift of good faith. I am talking with you against my better judgment, so make it snappy."

Zeus cleared his throat awkwardly. "Is this really the kind of negations were everyone need witness this? You" He snapped his fingers at both the demigods and Percy's companions. "Leave us."

Nobody moved and Percy smirked. "I think not, if they go i go. Plus, neither of my companions is someone to be finger-snapped, they are not peons. You should especially recognize the one on my right, you know, just the titaness of the moon Selene. So how about we start this over. Explain to me why i should listen to you, who for the most part are big overgrown babies, who also banished me, and stole the domain of my friend here." He gestured to Selene. "Oh, and also make me break my word of honor to Kronos."

This evoked gasps from around the room. Zeus threw himself upright and hurled the master bolt at the three of them. "Traitor!" A fireball flew from his right and a blast of water from another throne, both barely missing the hurtling missile. Yet the lightning bolt slammed into a wall of silver light and dispersed. Percy and Selene both lowered their hands, smirking wildly.

"Thanks for the help pops and auntie Hestia, but we had it covered. As I was saying, why should i break my deal with Kronos? As far as i can see i am in the perfect strategic position."

Zeus shifted worriedly in his throne. "Why would you make a deal with Kronos?"

Percy sighed and face palmed at the same time Selene did, and she elected to answer. "You banished him and ripped his life away and you expect him to help you? Even with the support some of you gave him, thanks for that by the way, he was about to kill himself when i found him. So what is to stop him making a deal with Kronos? I would not be helping if i had my way, I only assist at the request of my brother here." She gestured at Percy with one hand."

"Brother?"

"Yes, Brother. I am certain he was meant to be my real brother and not Eos. So yes, brother in everything but blood. Well, not anymore. I changed that. now answer his question!"

Athena decided to speak up. "Loyalty to your family?" He stared at her and broke into laughter, doubling over and clutching his stomach. Once he was done he straightened up and wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Thank you Athena. I needed a good laugh. The reason they call it a fatal flaw is because after Y'all betrayed me, it was literally killing me, turning my body against itself. You lost any loyalty the day you got rid of me. Any other reason i should help you? And don't say the mortals, I already have their safety secured."

"Do you want the world destroyed?"

"No, and it wont be. I play for team Percy only, and i will do whatever best suits my interests. Anything else?"

Silence reigned around the room. He nodded. "That is what i thought." He turned round and strode towards the doors. As he was about to leave, Selene and Zoe both leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Curse me and my soft heart. Okay, this is how this is gonna go down. I will take any being here under my protection if they want, assuming i let them. Any takers? Demigods first please."

No one moved at first. Then Percy started to act like an auctioneer, slamming his fist into his palm. "Going once... Going twice..." As he was about to begin, five figure leaped forward. Nico was the first to speak.

"I'm in, the camps were never really for me anyway." Frank, Hazel, Leo and Calypso joined him. Percy nodded. "Now, any gods? Let me remind you i have secured Kronos promise, which applys to all titans, to target only the remaining demigods and gods. Just a warning." This time a few gods stepped forward immediately. Actually, half the council did. Hestia, Hades, Hephaestus, Hermes, Aphrodite, and Dionysus. Percy looked, slightly hurt, at Poseidon."Dad?"

Poseidon shook his head. "I want to come too, i really do, but i can't abandon the rest of my family even if they deserve it."

The cabins of the above gods asked to come along as well since their parents were, and Percy nodded his approval.

Percy nodded his head in understanding at his father. "Makes sense you would make that decision. Remember, my offer still stands. As to the rest of you..." He smiled grimly. "I have seen the forces he now wields. Since you will fight him, better start digging your graves." And on that note the entire group flashed away.

 **Zero Dark Thirty wants YOU not them, YOU to review. (Imagine WWII recruitment poster.) Dobby works so hard, all he wants is one sock, just one review... Okay, i'll stop there. See Ya!**

 **-Zero**


	6. Chapter 6 Flashback

**What is this? Three updates in one day? What is this devilry?**

Percy POV

I smiled at Zoe as we walked away. "That went better than i hoped." She nodded in response.

"Yes. I kinda hoped the apollo cabin and the hunters would come to but you can't win them all."

Percy walked inside and plopped himself down on the couch. He massaged his eyes and talked out loud. " I hope i made the right decision when i talked with Kronos. I think i had all the loopholes covered, but with him, you can never be certain."

 _FLASHBACKKKKKKK_

 _"I sent an Iris message to Kronos. You heard me, an iris message. Apparently she will deliver the connection to everyone, i guess it goes with her being neutral and only defending her store. The mist shimmered and the connection formed. Kronos was on the other side, looking back at me. "Ah, dear nephew. Have you finally seen the light and wish to join the winning side? You would not seriously consider still backing the gods." I took a deep breath._

 _"You are right. I wish to negotiate with you." He looked at me surprised._

 _"Am i really hearing this? Of course i will negotiate. Not to swell your head, but you are the biggest obstacle to me ruling. If there is a way i can remove the obstruction, i will. Where would you like to meet? You can choose the place and time. I swear on the Styx not to attack or harass you while we meet, or on the way back to wherever you are."_

 _"How about a half hour from now at crater of diamonds national park? You can bring another with you if you wish."_

 _"Done. See you there nephew!" He swiped his scythe through the mist and destroyed the connection._

* * *

 _I sat at a table, waiting, as Kronos walked up to me with Hyperion following him. I nodded at them. "'Sup." Kronos pulled out a chair and sat in it. He folded his hands and looked at me seriously._

 _"So what did you have in mind? I can't imagine you want to actually join me."_

 _"You are correct. I want to strike a deal so i and those around me can stay neutral. I want a grantee that the mortals in the world will not be harmed in any way, that me and mine will not be attacked or harassed, and that i may take demigods and gods under my protection, within reason of course."_

 _"Of course..." He trailed off and looked at me. "And what do i get out of this? All i see is it makes mortals off limits and removes gods from my vengeance?"_

 _"I said within reason. I most certainly will not be taking Zeus and Hera under my wing for example. As for what you get, you get a promise that me and mine will not interfere, at all, with the war. We will not be for or against either side. I prefer to sit on the fence and keep all my options open. When you think about it, it makes sense. I will be out of your hair, so will those around me, and if the mortals and i are both safe, i have no quarrel with you."_

 _He slowly nodded, thinking it over. "All right. Seems fair enough I get you out of my hair and all i have to do is promise not to hurt a few people. What do you want me to swear?"_

 _"I want you to swear that you, Kronos, will not in anyway hurt, kill, or harass the mortals, me, or the ones under my protection." I saw him start to smirk and quickly added a little more. "This also applies for both the other titans, the monster army, and any other allies that you may have, and i want the oath on both the Styx and on Chaos' name." His golden eyes flashed with irritation._

 _"Dang it. I was hoping you would forget about that." He then swore to the terms i had laid out, and we shook hands and then departed._

* * *

 _Percy timidly entered his house to see Zoe with one foot chained to the wall, her arms crossed and a look of barely restrained rage on her face, sitting on the couch. "Hello love." He said hesitantly._

 _"Let me out." She growled angrily. "Now."_

 _Percy sighed, resigned for the beating ahead of him. He snapped his fingers and the chain dissolved. He barely had time to blink before Zoe's punch was already hitting him on the chin. She began crying in rage. "Why? Why wold you do that? I thought you were different! I wanted to stay by your side, and you chain me up while i am sleeping? Why?" She whirled around and ran to the other side of the room. "Give me some time alone." I could hear her whisper. I left, feeling shame at myself. I had only done it to protect her. I silently left and went to the center of the valley, where a kind of bar had been setup. I didn't normally drink, but there were times like this were i just wanted to forget. There wasn't a soul around but the old barkeeper, down at the end looking half asleep. But he walked up and said, "what'll it be?" I said the good stuff. He didn't reach around for the whiskey, and he didn't pour me a beer. His blue eyes kinda went misty. Then he said something._

 _"You can't find that here. For me, it was the first long kiss on my second date. My Mom all worried when I got home late, and dropping the ring in the spaghetti plate cause my hands were shaking too much. It is the way that she looks at you with her eyes and her hair. Eating burnt suppers the whole first year, and asking for seconds to stop her from tearing up. That is what is really the good stuff son, and don't you forget it."_

 _He reached over and he grabbed a carton of milk and he poured me a glass. And I smiled and said "I'll have some of that." We sat there and talked as an hour passed like old friends, until I saw a black and white picture and it caught my stare. It was a pretty girl with curled hair. He said,_

 _"That's my Bonnie, taken about a year after we wed. I spent five years in the bar when the cancer took her from me. But I've been sober three years now because the one thing's stronger than the whiskey for me was the sight of her holding' my baby girl, and the way she adored that string of pearls I gave her the day that our youngest boy Earl married his high school love. Its a new t-shirt sayin' I'm a grandpa. And holding' her hand when the good Lord called her up. Yeah man that's the good stuff for me." He leaned forward and his eyes sparkled with countless wisdom. "When you go back she will apologize, and so should you. But in the future, be careful of your words and action. There are some, while well meaning, that can never be taken back." I nodded and started to leave, but asked his name. He smiled._

 _"My name? Hmm just call me Zero young one. Just Zero." As i was walking out the door, i turned around to thank him, but he was gone. It was if he never existed._

* * *

 _As soon as i walked in the door, I was tackled by a blur of black hair. Zoe hugged me as tightly as she could, while apologizing furiously. I put my finger to her lips, stilling her furious protests. "No. Don't worry. I was at fault, not you. I just wanted to keep you safe and did not want to risk you being near Kronos. If he had you, it would be over. I would betray this valley, fight for him, even give him the world on a silver platter. You are powerful Zoe, with as much power as i could give you, you are my whole world, i just couldn't risk it. I went about protecting you the wrong way, and ask that you forgive me."_

 _She looked up at me. "I forgive you. But Perseus Theseus Jackson." With every word she slapped me. "Don't you ever do that again unless you want me to kick your butt. I appreciate your intentions, but i have been by your side for three hundred years, i think i can handle myself." She leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the lips. "And that was for doing what you thought was best." She snuggled into me and started to fall asleep as i stared at the ceiling, wondering what i had done to deserve her._

 **This was mostly a flashback, i just wanted to portray that the relationship between Percy and Zoe is not all flowers and roses. That seems to be a bit of a cliche, that the two fall in love without any problems. Percy seems like the type of guy who would try to protect her, and Zoe is the type who hates being protected. Tension must ensue. All right! Now for notices. First person to guess what and who inspired the second half of this chapter gets a shout out next update. The weekend of May 13-15 There will not be an update! I will not be able to write one that weekend, so heads up guys. See Ya Later!**

 **-Zero**


	7. Chapter 7 Zeus never learns

**Shout out to CHoBeeBoy who is the first to recognize anything beside Ranger's apprentice. (Sorry if i misspelled that)**

Annabeth POV

I stayed up late in my cabin, making back up plan after back up plan, and then back up plans for those backup plans. I rubbed my eyes, your eyes start to hurt after a few hours reading maps and documents by oil lamp. The flickering wick cast dark and dancing shadows around the room as i sighed. The problem was that i could not see a way to accomplish my task, and to a daughter of Athena, that was the ultimate insult. There was just no scenario i could think of where Olympus could win. Without Hephaestus campers for the armory, no new weapons and traps could be made. That also meant no Leo flying in to save the day on his warship. The Hermes cabin made up a good portion of the demigods, and they were gone too. Aphrodite campers weren't much of a loss, but the Dionysus kids were good fighters, though few in number. If Kronos is rising again, we will need every demigod there is. CHB hasn't grown by much. Recruiting has really suffered, with demigods vanishing before we could get to them. And if the titan of time attacked New York again... With us missing about a quarter of CHB thanks to Percy, and without our leader from the last war... We stood almost no chance. I pounded my hands down onto the table. No! Never think negative like that. There has to be a way. There always is a way. We have been underdogs before, but we had Percy then. Percy. My thoughts kept returning to him. His eyes and his raven black hair. I can't believe he just vanished for three hundred years on me like that. His personal flaw is loyalty. There is no way he can be with someone else... Right? Maybe i could kill two birds with one stone. I could get back together with Percy and get him to help us. Perfect!

I left the cabin, humming in happiness to myself. I headed to the big house, intent on using an iris message. I was one of a few older campers from either camp that had gotten immortality to train campers in case of another war, and act as guardians. Therefore, the rules of camp, including curfew, didn't apply to us. I quickly found a station that had been set up for just this purpose, stocked with prisms, flashlights, water, spray bottles, drachmas, anything you would need. I set up and flicked a drachma through the mist. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Percy Jackson."

The rainbow shimmered and showed me a familiar mop of messy black hair. "Hey Percy?" I called. He turned.

"Yes?"

"Could you come to camp half-blood please? I would like to talk to you."

"Uh, okay, i guess. Be there in a few minutes." The message dissolved and i started to pace back and forth, mentally rehearsing what i would say. He walked in about two minutes after I talked to him. My breath caught at the sight of him. He was as stunning as ever, and i finally got the chance to talk to him alone again! I finally stopped walking and looked at him. "Percy, is there any way you could help us?"

"No."

"Will you tell us what we are up against?"

"No."

"Can't or won't?"

"Both."

I almost growled in frustration, and he smirked. "P-Percy? Is there any way, any at all that you can assist? And could we-maybe get back together?" I finished, hope filling my voice as i walked forward and started to lean against him and stroke his chest. His face hardened and he quickly took two steps back.

"What about no can you not understand? I swore an oath and even if i could help i wouldn't. Plus, there is no way we can get back together. It has been three hundred years Annabeth. I am already with a girlfriend, and you cannot tell me you haven't gone on at least a few dates over the time span. You will always be my first love Annabeth, but i love another now." Annabeth stared at me, obviously crushed. It took her a few minutes before she responded.

"I-I understand. I have gone on a date or two, about a hundred years ago. It never worked out, every time I was on one, my mind what instantly start comparing the two of you, and he was found wanting." She took a step back. "But we can at least stay friends right?"

"That is fine with me. You never did anything to get on my bad side and did not vote for my banishment, ergo, if i was friends before, i consider us still friends. Is that fine with you?"

"Yes. But you will still be my seaweed brain."

"You will always be wise girl to me as well. But I cannot be your boyfriend."

She smiled, her gray eyes starting to analyze. "Who is your girlfriend? It cannot be Selene."

He made a face. "Selene? Yuck! I would not date my own sister!"

I stared in shock. "Sister?" I asked, my voice rising in volume.

He rolled his eyes. "Keep it down would you? Did you not hear what she said at the council? She adopted me as her brother. It was quite plain to see."

"Then who are you dating?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe a drop dead gorgeous girl, with a long black braid and copper skin, with onyx eyes and a slightly upturned nose. A Persian princess." He said, his voice starting to get dreamy towards the end.

"It cannot be... It is! You are dating _Zoe_?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"Is it a problem? Hades yes! She is a hunter! She cannot be in a relationship!"

He quickly cut me off. "No, She is not a hunter. And even if she was, she would have quit by now. She has been my companion for three hundred years. I think i know her situation better than you."

"Yes he does." Said a new voice, as Zoe seemed to meld out of the shadows. She was wearing what looked like standard hunter equipment except it was all in dark green and brown. "I am not a hunter, and if i was, i would have quit due to Artemis. She is not the goddess I was once friends with." She walked over to Percy and he gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Now, unless you have anything else to say, we need to go." Both of them turned towards the door and left.

* * *

Kronos sat in his throne, watching his favorite reality TV show. It was called "The demigods all die!" Channel, and it was tuned twenty four seven into camp half blood. Unfortunately, there was no sound when the subject was in a building, depriving the titan lord of a shocking bit of information. He kept watching, transfixed, as the entertainment level went up a few notches. He quickly summoned some popcorn and sat back. This was a welcome turn of events, he had only been expecting boring war plans. Instead, he got something live that would be on replay on Hephaestus TV for weeks.

* * *

Percy and Zoe left the room and prepared to leave, when the moon suddenly flashed. The twin archers appeared in front of the pair. Zoe went into a combat stance as soon as she saw them, while Percy seemed unconcerned. "Artemis, Apollo. What is it?"

"You need to help the demigods."

"No, I don't. What about you guys banishing me did you not understand? Even if i wanted to help, which i don't, and make a difference, which i would, I can't. What about the immortal councilers?

"They are bound by the ancient laws. They cannot interfere unless challenged."

"By which you mean they are as useful as a one legged man in a ass-kicking contest." Apollo snorted in laughter as his twin glared at him.

"Sorry sis, it was funny." Artemis turned her glare on the pair in front of her.

"You will help them."

"No, i won't. I thought better of the two of you. Now get out of my way." Artemis flicked her hand, sending a bolt of silver light at Percy, intending to turn him into a jackalope. Percy just stared as a wall of silver light blocked the attack, and started to advance it towards the gods.

"Whats the matter Artemis? Don't have the juice? Too bad, sucks for you." He made a hand motion and the light slammed into the two, instantly making them vanish. He turned towards Zoe. "Time to go." As they turned to leave for the second time a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of them as thunder rumbled in the night sky above. He wheeled around. Jason was flying in the sky with Piper below him.

"Sorry about this Percy, Zeus orders you be brought to Olympus."

Percy flipped off the skies. "Not happening. Goodbye." He ignored him until he brought a lightning bolt down onto Zoe, sending her flying back into the wall of the big house. "Percy roared and rotated so he could see Jason. "That was not a choice Jackson."

Percy growled. "You will pay for hurting Zoe, much less in a cowardly attack. You will fade for this." He slowly formed light in his hand as he raised his hands to the skies, the moonlight being attracted to his hand. It slowly formed into a massive silver bow, like Artemis' but this one was much more impressive. He raided it and pointed it at Jason, who turned pale.

"What is that thing?"

"This?" Percy smirked. "Just a symbol of power." He pulled back the string and a arrow formed. He let it fly as Jason hurled himself out of the path of the projectile. The arrow exploded, sending him careening into the dirt. Percy was on him instantly, wailing away at his face until it was bloody. "Zoe, get her." He ordered as Piper came forward to defend her husband." Piper turned just in time to receive a knockout punch that shattered her jaw and sent her to sleep for a long time. He clicked his fingers. Zoe glowed brightly for a second before turning into a pair of knives and falling into his hands. He raised them over Jason's chest. "May the fates witness i fought this only in self defense, they launched the first strike." He brought the knives down as Jason dissolved into dust. An ominous crackling sounded as he dived out of the way of Zeus's master bolt, rolling to his feet as he turned around. "Well well, if it isn't drama queen. Come to actually do something yourself for a change?"

Zeus thundered so loudly it woke up the rest of the campers. "How dare you attack an immortal, and one of my sons at that! You will die for your crimes!"

Percy nodded. "I see. Two things wrong with that statement. One, i did not attack him. He attacked me and Zoe and he got what he deserved. depending on whether i feel merciful i may let him come back in a couple hundred years. Also, i have no intention of dying today."

"What do you mean, if you let him come back?"

"Oh, did i not mention that? These blades can kill anything below a primordial for good if i want, which means no reforming of you piss me off. And you have. Hey sis, wanna tag team for this one?" Selene descended next to him.

"Of course brother dear. Let's get him. He has reigned as a pitiful leader for long enough. He crossed a line when he killed Leto. For that he will pay."

The pair launched into battle, and it was obvious that Zeus was outclassed. He had not practiced in a thousand years or more, and was out of shape. Percy and Selene were both in peak fighting condition, and worked as a team, never giving him a chance to recover. One got in close while the other provided covering fire. Eventually, Selene charged and spun, letting the limb of her bow crack Zeus in the jaw as he started to topple backward. Percy appeared behind him, stabbing Zeus in the back before shoving him forward. Straight into Selene's roundhouse kick, which sent him down for the count. Percy glanced down and high-fived Selene. "That was great! We totally owned him!" She smiled too.

"Yes. we did, didn't we. I have not had that much fun in a long time." She turned and addressed the other Olympians who had seen the latter part if the fight. "You can heal him or not, we really don't care. You will just be destroyed by Kronos anyway. Great job, provoking someone as strong as one of you who is free to go join Kronos." And with that, she snapped her fingers, and she, and her surrogate brother, were gone.


	8. Chapter 8 The court

**To whoever it was that posted the 33rd review for this story about gays and LGBT... No. I will never support that. I think i have been quite clear as to my stance on this issue, and for everyone of you who is nice and polite, there are multiple others who try to provoke a court case that shoves this whole things into other peoples lives. See, Pizzeria that was sued and forced to close, the wedding cake case, Mayor of New York and Chick-fil-a, etc. Please do not post something like that again on any of my stories, or i will take it down. My stories are not for use as a platform for movements i do not believe in and do not back. This is my one and only warning. If you try this again, I WILL find a way to block you. On a more positive note, wow. There has been an outpouring of support for this story that is absolutely incredible. This chapter will make this story have half the chapters THIS did. And already I have over 60% of the amount of reviews from it. That is great. Plus the favorites and follows will crush the old record for me easily. You guys are so awesome! Now, I know I have not actually answered reviews, but I will do so now! Here we go!**

 **GodoftheSea221, For all intents and purposes, with the exception of the gods that joined him, Percy WILL NOT, i repeat, WILL NOT, help Olympus. I have my own idea for what to do.**

 **picnic 990, Thank you. You have been a constant reviewer, so thanks for that. Also, see above. This includes everyone who has asked about this.**

 **PersuesTheDestroyer999, ummm. How should i put this? I kinda feel like the whole patron thing is a little over done, so i was not planning on having one. If i needed one, both of your suggestions would be great options though. Plus, Selene lives right there, she can be a sort of pseudo-guardian/patron.**

 **Percypotterharryjackson453, thank you. Also, i think i fulfilled your request soon after you reviewed.**

 **Chobeeboy, thank you! Finally, someone recognized a reference in a chapter! I will go back and try to integrate it slightly more smoothly though. Oh, for anyone who wants to try, my Hera's mistake story had one chapter with references to Iron Man, James bond, and a few others. See how many you can find. Or that really long chapter for LHFTW, that one had references to Ranger's Apprentice, Three musketeers, etc.**

 **GuestX, Thank you.**

 **JESSICA chapter three on May first. Exactly!**

 **Commander01, I had not thought about that. That could be an interesting plot twist. I will see what i can do to include him all right?**

 **And that's all for now folks! Song I am listening to right now, Coward of the County by Kenny Rogers. Now for the part you have all been waiting for! -Zero**

Zeus POV

Gold. That was my first reaction upon opening my eyes. Everything was gold. Light kept bounding around the room, hurting my eyes. It was too bright. I grumbled to myself. I must be stuck in Apollo's temple. I made a mental note to tell him to tone it down for any patients. They didn't need to go blind just after recovery. That was when the pain hit. It felt like I had two daggers stuck in my back, which was exactly what had caused those wounds. It was excruciating, as if my godly power was trying to heal me and failing. My jaw felt like rubber, it was still shattered. I still had a nice bruise forming on my left eye where that cursed titan had hit me with her bow. Why hadn't Apollo fixed that? For that matter, why where no other gods here? You normally had to drag Apollo away from a patient. I painfully hauled myself to my feet and limped out of the room, pulling a stray arrow out of my shoulder, and headed for the throne room.

Poseidon POV

We had it all set up. We had changed the structure of the throne room specifically for this. I was dressed up in official robes, sitting at a desk with a mallet on it with a stern expression on my face. The other remaining gods had gone to sit off to the side behind an enclosure about waist high, with computers and notes in front of them. The doors slowly creaked open and Zeus stuck his head and went white, obviously recognizing the layout. He had watched too many Judge Judy episodes. I brought the gavel done with finality. "Would the defendant, Zeus, please proceed to the defendant seat?" My tone made it clear I wasn't asking. After he sat down, I continued. "You are here on trial for the rape and murder of the peaceful titan, Leto, by the third meeting of the Olympic court. How do you plead?" He sat for a moment, mulling over his options, the wheels spinning in his head.

"Not guilty." We already knew what he would say. He did not really have an option.

"All right. Would you prefer a trial by judge or by jury?" He examined the prospective jurors. Hera, Apollo, and Artemis were glaring at him. The other three, Demeter, Ares and Athena looked undecided. He did not like his odds there. He already had three guilty votes and could not win. "Judge." He said, hoping his brother would be more lenient.

"All right then. The prosecution calls the first witness, Selene." Said titaness walked over to the witness seat and sat down.

"She should not be here! She and Jackson attacked me!" Zeus exclaimed. I shook my head.

"Not so. You attacked them, a neutral party. That is part of the reason Apollo has not healed you. Now, I would like to ask the witness what they saw, in a logical order, including where the witness was and what they were doing before they saw the alleged crime."

Selene took the witness stand we had set up. "I was about to start driving my chariot across the sky with my brother when my cousin mentally cried for help. I flashed there in time to see them talking. She had seen Zeus coming and panicked. Apparently Zeus wanted to expand the Olympic council, so he wanted another child to fill a spot. He went back to Leto, who had already born him two powerful gods. Leto was wary though. He had already wooed her once before, and then did not turn out well for her. In fact, she was still in exile on the island, even though there had been a promise to free her." At this point she broke off and glared at all the gods and muttered "Oath breakers." under her breath. Then she continued. "She refused his advances. He then forced her to lay with him by threatening to blast Apollo or Artemis with his master bolt."

This provoked an outcry from the jury stands as Artemis and Apollo both stood up in fury but were pulled down by whatever god was nearest them. "In fear for her children, she was forced into it. Afterwards, Zeus visited her several times to check on the child, but she always coldly addressed him and sent him away. Then, one day, there was a prophecy given that it was a girl and would marry. Zeus was furious. He only wanted a virgin goddess. In his rage, he took out the master bolt and... And..." She could not finish, but it did not matter.

Apollo forced his way upright. "That prophecy went to _you_?" He exclaimed. "What was the problem with having a daughter that would marry? It is not that big of a deal! And you killed them for it?" I brought the gavel down several times.

"Order, order! Remember, this is still an alleged crime, which has now been expanded to murder of an unborn as well. Do you swear on the river Styx that everything you have said is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"I do."

"Were there any other witnesses?"

"Yes. My brother, Perseus, was with me and saw the whole thing as well. He can attest that everything i have said is the truth."

"Very well. The prosecution calls the second witness, Perseus Jackson." The mentioned demigod, or whatever he was now, ascended the steps as he took his place ready for a cross examination. "Do you, Perseus Jackson, swear on the Styx that everything Selene has said you also witnessed, and everything was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"I do."

"Thank you for your testimony. Witness dismissed." As he left the room, the stares of all the gods present bored into Zeus. I rapped the hammer down sharply, the sound echoing through the room. "Testimony is now closed. I would like to request all the jurors meet with me for a minute." The gods got up and trooped over, and went into a huddle in the corner of the room. There was a lot of whispering and covert glances aimed at Zeus, but they all seemed to come to a majority agreement soon enough. They all took their seats again. Zeus was leaning forward nervously, awaiting his fate. "I have decided... Ably assisted by the jurors over there, that you are guilty of the crime of raping and then murdering Leto and her unborn child. You are hereby will be stripped of your position as king of the gods and as a member of the Olympic council, with further punishment to be discussed at such time as we are not fighting for our survival. This sentence is effective immediately." As he finished speaking, Zeus' throne exploded and collapsed into dust. The thrones shifted so they were once again evenly spaced. "As we have no king, who is used to break ties, we will currently revert to a form of democracy, every vote counts once, and since we have an odd number of gods currently on the council, this will not present a problem. Which, by the way, is how it is supposed to be."

Zeus finally found his voice. "You can't do that!"

"Actually, i think I just did." Poseidon smirked smugly. "Third convention of the Olympic court is hereby dismissed. Apollo, I know you do not like him, but we need every god we can get against Kronos. So if you could at least get him into fighting condition, that would be appreciated." Most of the gods flashed out as this point, having more important things to do now.

* * *

If any gods had been watching the throne room doors for whatever reason, they would have seen an interesting sight. Namely, the sight of Zeus being thrown through the massive portal which burst open and sent him tumbling into the street, humiliated and covered in dust, no longer the tyrant of Olympus.


	9. Chapter 9

**Just curious. Would you guys like for me to do some kind of contest every chapter, and whoever wins gets the title and the content of the next chapter PM'ed to them? Yes? No?**

As soon as I was dismissed by the court, I rushed back to the infirmary in Shangri-la to check on Zoe. She was in good shape, the lightning bolt hadn't done too much damage, but I was always uncomfortable when she wasn't nearby. As I entered she smiled weakly at me. "Hey."

"Hey yourself. Heard you got hit by a lightning bolt. Thought you couldn't get hit twice? Weren't you struck at Mount Tam as well?" I sat down next to her and she punched me in the arm. "Ow," I whined. "Why did you hit me Zoe?"

She smirked. "Oh don't be such a big baby."

"But it hurt though... Can you kiss it and make it feel better?" I asked, rolling up my sleeve.

"No." Then she leaned forward and gave me a hug. "Did that help?"

"A little." I answered, tightening my grip on her. We just sat there, holding each other and nothing else seemed to matter at that moment as we fell asleep.

* * *

The Stolls peeked in and when they saw the couple inside, they smirked and put their heads together. They quickly split up and dashed off in different directions. They came back a few minutes later, arms full of various supplies such as silly string, shaving cream, marshmallows, sharpies, and a mirror. They were about to enter the cabin until they heard someone clear their throat. "I wouldn't do that if i were you."

The twins turned and did a cartoon style double take. "Mr. D!" They chorused. "We were just... Uh..." They dropped their supplies and stood in front of them, attempting to hide the evidence.

"Don't bother. I saw it all. I would recommend you did not prank either Zoe or Perseus in there. That would likely be a poor career choice."

"Why?"

"Percy is rather protective of her, so he will track you down. And if he didn't, Zoe would. If you think you have seen a woman's rage from that Kitty girl, you have something else coming your way."

"Wait a minute... Kitty?" Travis exclaimed. "Why did you mess her name up but call Zoe and Percy by their real names?"

"I most certainly did not Tamrika." At hearing his brother get called a girl's name and seeing his face, Conner was on the ground, roaring with laughter.

"Y-y-your face!" He finally gasped out, tears of laughter falling from his face. "Priceless!"

The chubby god raised his hat and glared at him. "You don't get out of it either Caitlin." This time it was Travis' turn to wheeze with laughter. "Now you two, the Swills or whatever your name is. Do you know how to play pinochle?"

"No." Conner answered.

"Well, it is, along with Pac-man and gladiator fighting, one of the greatest games ever invented by mankind! I would expect all _civilized_ young men to know it. Now come over here so i can teach you the rules." The brothers glanced at each other and came to an understanding.

"Actually, how about we show you how to make a dramatic exit?" Travis asked, eyes gleaming mischievously. Conner pointed dramatically over Mr. D's left shoulder.

"Look! It is the world's biggest flying bottle of wine!" He declaimed dramatically and grasped his brother for support. "I never thought I would actually live to see it. Now my life's purpose is fulfilled." Dionysus turned and looked for it, but nothing was there. He wheeled back around but the only thing left was dust drifting down to the ground form the Stoll's hasty exit.

"Spills!" He bellowed and gave chase. Let me tell you, he can move pretty darn quickly when he wants to. The Stolls had all they could handle just to keep ahead of him. "Percy, help!" They screamed.

Percy and Zoe watched bemusedly from the window as the portly man chased the two, holding aloft a pine cone on a stick. "Nope, you are on your own!" Zoe called back in response. "Good luck!" The Stolls screamed as Dionysus flashed in front of them and stuck his staff out. The Hermes kids tripped and landed in a pile. The god of wine swooped forward and grabbed them by their ears.

"Gotcha you little rascals! Come on, we are going to go tour a wine factory!" As he left dragging them their yelps and pleads for mercy went unanswered.

She turned and looked at Percy pleadingly, giving him the puppy eyes. He tried to resist but eventually gave in. "Fine. I know what you want to do. How about you get out big friend Leroy to help? While you do that, i will go spend some time with Chloe." She leaned forward and gave him a peck on the lips.

"Sounds good to me. See you later!" She went to go do her thing and i went off to find Chloe. She had apparently set up a baseball game with some of the other residents. She saw me and ran forward. "Daddy, can you referee? Please?" I sighed. "I guess. Try not to run this old man too hard alright?"

She giggled. "No promises Dad." She quickly got the teams set up and play began. After about half an hour, Chloe was on second. I leaned forward.

"Okay. Now steal third and run home." She nodded.

"Got it." She dashed off but instead of tagging the base and continuing, she scooped up the base and ran towards the outfield. I was perplexed. What was she doing?

"Where are you going?"

Her voice echoed back as she was already off the field. "Running home!" I groaned as it dawned on me. The other kids were in a gale of laughter while the other parents shook their heads indulgently. "Somethings never change i guess." I thought, shaking my head in exasperation.

* * *

Zoe went and sent an Iris message. It showed Artemis in her tent, talking to the new lieutenant, who I vaguely recognized. She let out a sharp whistle to get their attention. Both their gazes fell on her and Artemis lurched forward and attempted to hug the IM. Zoe instinctively stumbled back as the IM blurred. ( **Sound familiar?** ) "Kallisto!" I barked. "Tell the bitch this is an IM and even if it wasn't I would never hug her!"

The hunter frowned. "I'm sorry, _what_?"

"Tell her that the hunters will be targeted soon. I care not for her, but the new hunters I would rather not get slaughtered. This is your one warning."

"Zoe, I am sorry! Please come back!" This came from the goddess who was present, while Zoe pretended she could not hear her and cast her gaze elsewhere. Kallisto caught on and turned to her.

"Lady Artemis says she is sorry and wants you to come back." Zoe frowned.

"Tell her Hades no. Not ever. And ask her if she has told you yet."

"Told us what?"

"Exactly." With that the message was cut off and Kallisto turned questioning eyes on her goddess, wondering what they were supposed to know.

 **Anyone see the Easter egg/reference to TLO?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you all. This story has now tied the number of follows for Hero In the Stars. Lets try to break the number of favorites and reviews!**

 **Haven't done a disclaimer in a while, so here goes.**

 **The chances of me owning PJO is roughly equivalent to me capturing a full health level hundred shiny Arceus on the first turn with a lowly pokeball. Minus about 2 billion.**

 **Little discussion on favorite stories. You have been warned.**

 **I was not planning on favoriting any stories/authors, but recently changed my mind. The really good stories, those are the ones that deserve to be recommended for the world to see. I try to limit the number I favorite because I have seen people with thousands of recommended stories. No one is actually going to scroll through the entire list. But if you only have a few good ones, then people might give them a shot. To me, a story worthy of being followed has three main components. One, it is original. It has something unique or previously/rarely unused. This helps distinguish a lot of the really good ones. For example, there are a few good percy betrayed/chaos/returns to earth fanfics. But the vast majority are not. After a while of searching for a good one, I gave up, seeing so many of the sames themes and the same plot lines. My second requirement is the story must be well written. You might have the best idea in the world, but if you cannot express yourself, it won't matter. Finally, it must have decent length. I define this as 20ish K plus. Plenty of promising storylines have been left to fester for years with only a chapter or two. They are not yet worthy of being called favorite stories. I personally do not think any of my stories are at that level, nor will ever be. Yet that is what keeps me motivated, striving to do better. Before someone asks, the authors I have favorited and followed all have at least one story I will favorite, with the exception of the man, the man, ****_THE LEGEND_ Anaklusmos _14._ All his stories are the highest quality I have ever seen. As he has so many, I cannot favorite them all. It is just heavily implied.**

Tense silence filled the room. Nobody wanted to be the first to answer, afraid of upsetting the titan lord who was walking around with a creepy smile on his face in front of his army, twirling his scythe aimlessly. He finally turned and looked off to the side. Most of the other titans had been freed and now walked the earth, having sworn allegiance to Kronos. Though there were a few that did not answer the call. Foremost among them were Iapetus and Oceanus. Iapetus, he could understand. He currently had no memory and was serving Hades. Oceanus though... He growled at the thought of the coward, swinging his scythe out viciously, chopping of the head of a terrified (and rather unfortunate) Empousa. Oceanus had refused to help. After the last failed war effort, he had no interest in attempting to overthrow the gods again. He would get his comeuppance soon. He was next on the hit list after the gods went down. And without Jackson, they would surely fall. He would need to be careful with him. He could not risk him intervening, he had no idea of the extent of allies the demigod had. Kronos made a mental note to remind his army not to harass the mortals, on pain of... punishment. The other wild cards he cared little for. Mostly a couple of the female titans elected to stay neutral, such as Asteria and Tethys. They were of little consequence, and surely would not move against him.

This assumption would have a hand in his undoing. For it is written, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. This was never truer, than in this circumstance. Dismissing his worries, he glance up and down the rank of titans awaiting orders, ranging from Hyperion to to the titan of the north Coeus, who had elected to join the fray. "Hyperion, Prometheus. Take a quarter of the army and march on Camp Jupiter. Raze it to the ground. No prisoners. Have the spies take out the praetors. Coeus, Pallas, take another half of the army and surround the Amazons. Do not attack them, but do not let them come to the aid of camp jupiter. I will take the rest of us towards New York. Understand?"

The aforementioned beings nodded and strode away, already taking command of their designated sections. Within half an hour, the campsite had been emptied.

* * *

(two days later at Camp Jupiter)

Hank and Moe Nardy were relatively new to the legion. They had gotten off of probatio just a week ago, and were still new enough at their new job of border guards to actually stand at attention and keep their mind on task. This attitude would change for the veterans, who knew border duty meant weary hours of baking in the sun with nothing to do. Thus it was that they were not taken completely by surprise. When the monsters sprang forward, Hank was ready and waiting, and slew the first out of the cover with a thrust of his spear. He took one look and turned, face ashen. "Goblins." He whispered. "He was a scout. Send the alarm. We are under attack!" He ordered to Moe, his voice rising.

The slightly younger brother fumbled with the horn before blowing the signal for an attack. A goblin, or Orc, are of approximately human shape with bowed legs and long arms and of varying size. Though generally smaller than humans and starkly different, they are physically stronger. Orcs are generally ugly and filthy, with prominent fangs and facial features tending toward the grotesque, generally a mixture of the ape-like and pig-like. Their skin is typically a shade of green, gray, black, brown, or sometimes red. All this information ran through Hank's head in a flash. "We have to get to the tunnel and hold them off. Most of the legion is relaxing in the baths right now, if we don't slow them down, it will be a slaughter." Moe nodded, understanding the danger. "Come on!" The two turned and fled, standing shoulder to shoulder, blocking the entrance. As a pack of orcs stalked towards them, the two stood their ground. Then the hideous hybrids leaped forward, and the engagement began. They were initially rebuffed by the large shield the legionaries carried, and in this place, in the confined space, the numbers were counterproductive. As the two fought desperately, trying everything in their power, they were forced back, step by step, down the long tunnel. They made an attempt to push forward as they saw daylight, but were unsuccessful. Sheer numbers forced the brave demigods out into the open, and Hank knew it was over. They could be flanked, and there was no way out. The Orcs knew it too. The fighting stopped and the leader stepped forward.

"I am he known as Grishnakh. You have fought bravely. I admire that. I will give you one chance to switch sides. Consider carefully."

The brothers glanced at each other, and saw the look in the others eyes. Moe spoke for the both of them. "Go to Hades." He snarled.

"So be it." At a hand signal from Grishnakh, the orcs surrounded them and attacked. The demigods made a last desperate stand, hoping for reinforcements, but it was only a matter of time. Moe over extended on a thrust, and he was dragged forward to where Grishnakh stabbed him. As Hank let out a cry, Grishnakh raised the bloody knife to the sky. "The first blood in a new war." He crowed. Hank bellowed and was surrounded by a deep, blood red aura. He lunged forward, fighting like a madman, not bothering to use his shield. He picked up a sword from a fallen orc and started to throw himself recklessly at the enemy. He started to take wounds, but he fought on in a rage. Finally, he could feel it. He was dying. With one last bellow to the skies, he hurled himself forwards, weapons flashing, in a last bid to take down as many of them as possible. Grishnakh stood, impassive, as he watched his guard fall. Hank's breathe expired and he fell forward at the Orc captains feet. He had singlehandedly killed over a dozen orcs, and the only survivor was Grishnakh. The orc snorted. "Huh. Impressive for a human." He spat on the corpse as he watched the first legionaries march out of the gates, wearing purple and carrying the golden eagle.


	11. Chapter 11 The Christmas chapter

**The song that inspired me to write part of this actually has very little to do with this chapter. Christmas in June? In Texas? As if! Anyway, if any of you care, the song is "Light of Christmas" by Owl City and TobyMac.**

 **Disclaimer**

 **If I owned PJO, Percy would have had a bigger role in the finale of HOO instead of having a nose bleed and watching Piper steal his thunder by duel-wielding.**

Percy walked out into the forest, stripping his gloves off his hands and tapping them against his thigh in thought. He waited patiently, shivering slightly in the chill air, as he waited for his contact to appear. A sleek shape low to the ground prowled slowly out of the surrounding greenery and made its way toward him. The wolf blended in well with its white coat matching against the snow. Percy crouched down to its level. "Could you send some of your pack to watch over the mortals and the monster army? Let them see you, they need to know that we are watching." The wolf barked once in acknowledgement before whimpering and asking a question. "If they attack you or a mortal respond how you see fit. I trust in your judgement." The wolf nodded before turning and sprinting away among the trees. Percy straightened, satisfied that he would have eyes in the enemy before trudging out of the snow bank he had been in and heading back to the valley. He had barely made it inside before being tackled by a blur of blonde hair as Chloe launched herself at him. "Daddy daddy! It's Christmas Eve!"

"So it is sweetie. Have you and Zoe decided what we are going to do yet?"

Zoe came into sight, smiling. "Yes. Ready to go?"

"Whenever you are. Shall we?"

He asked, offering her his arm. She took it and managed to keep a straight face as she answered gravely, "We shall." The couple swept out the door with the little girl trailing in her footsteps. She broke out from behind them and darted forward, throwing herself face up into the snow and giggling as she formed a snow angel, legs and arms waving wildly. Percy and Zoe smiled, seeing their "daughter" having fun. They might not be her biological parents, but they loved the little girl and enjoyed seeing her happy. Chloe sprang up and grabbed Percy's wrist with an iron grip, dragging him over.

"Help me build a snowman!"

He groaned. "Why are you ladies always so violent?" He muttered. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to stand still and model for me."

"Stand still, that I can do." He took a pose and maintained it as Zoe and Chloe leaned down and started rolling balls of snow. He watched as they carefully sculpted the bottom sphere before giving the snowman a extremely large potbelly, before topped by it off with a squat oblong head. Percy watched in horror.

"I don't really look like that do I?"

Zoe chuckled. "Actually I will have you know that this is an extremely accurate reproduction of the real thing." Percy pouted.

"That's mean." Zoe walked up and gave him a hug before kissing him.

"There. Happy now?" He smiled in satisfaction and was about to answer when he got a mouthful of snow. He spat it out before noticing that Zoe and Chloe had positioned him facing into the wind so he got a face full of snow every time the wind blew.

"You girls are so sneaky." Chloe joined in the group hug, snuggling into Percy.

"But you know you love us for it." He smiled, wrapping an arm around her and drawing her further into the hug.

"That's true, I do. Ready to wrap presents for Aunt Selene Chloe? I'm sure that I can find someone else to do it if you want..."

"No, no, I've got it." She quickly responded. Wrapping presents for Aunt Selene was quite the lucrative business. She had a habit of taking those who participated for a spin in her chariot. The trio went back inside to began the rather laborious process. Percy had just started to wrap one for Zoe when he heard a series of thumps coming from the steppes. He hurried over and saw an amusing sight. Chloe had tried to take too many decorations down the stairs and had tripped on a ribbon. She had then fallen down the steps one at a time before landing in a gift bag so that only her head poked out the top. "Trick or treat?"

"Good try cutie, but wrong celebration. Unless you want it be put under the tree I think you should get out of there. Wouldn't want to be stuck in a box for a while eh?"

"Nope! Come on, we have a lot of stuff to do!" The next few hours featured frantic wrapping and hiding of presents between the three of them. Percy finally placed the last present under the tree and straightened up, groaning as his stiff muscles protested.

"Now that the job is done, would you to go on a sleigh ride? The sleigh should be here momentarily."

"How much does it cost?"

"Don't worry about it, doesn't cost a cent. It's free. Come on!" The three strolled outside, just in time to see a sleigh sweep down from the sky and land in front of them, pulled by eight reindeer and being driven by a portly man in a red suit with a booming laugh.

Chloe gasped and looked back at Percy. "It can't be..."

The man leaned over the sleigh. "Oh, it certainly is me my dear. Percy called in a few favors for this. How about you come sit on my lap so that I can give you a gift?" Chloe ran over and sat on his lap before shyly leaning forward and whispering in his ear. "Are you sure?" She nodded. "Very well." He got up and walked forward before removing one of the bells from the harness of the reindeer and wrapping her hands around it. "The first gift of Christmas. Take good care of it. Now, I believe you asked for transportation to New York?"

Percy nodded. "Yes please. We are trying to attend the decoration of the tree in the Rockefeller center. We really appreciate this Nick."

"No problem." He pulled out an old fashioned pocket watch before looking at it and yelping. "Five minutes to midnight! I have never been late before, and I most certainly do not intend on being late, tonight! Get on, we need to get going." They got on and Santa pulled a lever as the craft started forward, with something coming off the back of the sleigh and making vivid colors in the air. Chloe rotated a spare container and look at it.

"Potash of carboniloroxy... ...amilocitrate." She looked up and gasped. "Magic dust."

Santa smiled. "Mined from the Aurora Borealis itself. Kick back and enjoy." The sled shot forward through the night, heading straight for New York. When they got there and Santa landed to let them out, he looked at his watch before smiling in satisfaction. "Five minutes to midnight. Perfect."

"But it was five minutes to midnight ten minutes ago?"

"Exactly! Glad you understand. Help hand out gloves while I go set something up. Be right back." Percy and Zoe helped distribute the gloves along with a man with a bucket and a bell from in front of a nearby department store. He sidled over to Percy and gave a wink from under his Elf hat.

"Good to see you back."

"Good to be back, if only for a little while. See anything out of place?" He got a nod to the negative and smiled. "Good. I would hate to spoil her Christmas with a fight. Thanks for the help Arthur. Where is Bryoney?"

"No problem man. If your in the area, always ask! Bryoney got promoted, she is now Vice-President of Packing, Pacific Division. Dad took my place for the night, he looks the part more than me right now. He should have arranged the permission for Chloe right about now..." Santa came back over, stifling a yawn.

"Done. She can put the crowning Star on the tree now. Arthur, anything else you need me for?"

"Nope, thanks Dad. You really made her night." Santa nodded and took a few steps back before stretching out a hand and grasping a cord attached to a Christmas tree shaped stirrup for his foot. He suddenly shot up into the air and was gone within seconds. Percy turned and looked at Chloe.

"Sweetie, would you like to put the Star on top of the tree?" She nodded eagerly as he helped her up the massive ladder to the top. As she was about to put the star on, Percy noticed Arthur in the sleigh racing in their direction. As the star touched the tree he lashed out with a whip and gently touched the top of the decoration, causing the whole tree to light up and erupt into a dazzling array of colors and causing the crowd to cheer and throw their hats in the air. As he flew away Percy gave a two fingered salute in gratitude before climbing down the ladder with Chloe. The two took in the sight, happy with their work. Zoe came over and joined the two.

"Feel like caroling tonight?" Chloe nodded eagerly but was betrayed when she yawned and her two parental figure smiled at her. "On second though, maybe another time. Right now, we need to get you home before Santa arrives." She winked at Percy as she said this before turning and leading them to the transport that would take them home.

* * *

 **Meanwhile, on the west coast, and at a much less happy place in Seattle...**

Hylla got in the face of the monster emissary. "You will let us through."

The empousa yawned. "Why would we do that? You would just go to the aid of your sister, plus we were here first, you would have to attack us to get through us, and I am reasonably sure you would be wiped out." She said, waving her arm and gesturing to the vast monster host that outnumbered the Amazons by a stunning margin to emphasize her point. "Lord Kronos said not to attack, so we will not unless provoked, luckily for you. I would love you to make a mistake that would let us kill you all. Why he didn't just have us wipe you out I am not sure, but let me warn you, you are coming very close to ticking me off. Now go back to your minuscule horde of female warriors and warn them to watch their step. After all, we would hate for a mistake to happen right?" She asked with a grim smile.

Hylla growled, about to attack the insolent vampire. Kinze rushed forward and grabbed her arm. "My queen, don't do it. it would serve no purpose and would only get us killed. You need to stay calm. I know it is your sister, but you need to trust that she can handle herself now. There is nothing we can do." She grunted in acknowledgement, and took several deep breaths to calm herself down.

"You will pay for this, I swear it." She growled before turning and starting to trudge back to their headquarters, grinding her teeth and promising to get revenge on the monsters for this.

 **Just a bit of a glimpse into the home life of Percy. Christmas has provided some of my favorite memories, so that is how I tried to portray this holiday. Oh yeah, just because it it Christmas Eve doesn't mean there isn't a war going on. If the Amazons want to, pretty sure the monsters provide free death on a stick, a special deal only available for a limited time during Christmas.**


	12. Chapter 12 The destruction of CHB

**I apologize guys. I have been slightly neglecting this story, as well as a couple others, so even though I write for whatever story I have inspiration for, I will attempt to spread them out. I recently started to second guess myself about the length of my chapters, until i saw a 125 chapter 117k story that was extremely successful. I think that someone already mentioned this in a review, but this is just to quell any future questions. Percy is not abandoning everyone. He is just abandoning the gods and the demigods. He is actively protecting the mortals, so don't worry. And what a nice guy he is, he even gave the gods and DG's another chance. The ones that did not take him up, well... Lets just say it won't end well. So when they are dying don't expect Percy to save them. They had their chance. Oh, what follows is a bit of a blatant plee for attention. I like to think I do okay with this story, but I really haven't gotten a lot of support recently. If you guys could please tell me what you think, I would really appreciate it. Oh, and I am actively betaing for Thayes2014, starting from where he gives me a notice at the beginning of a chapter, so if you guys could check it out that would be great. It is his first attempt at writing and mine at betaing so don't be too harsh. I notice that some of the older faces here have also already reviewed for him. Great job on trying to spread encouragement to starting authors. To the reviewer who asked about LOTR, yes, I did that on purpose. I love it, and thought that I could show something a bit more out of the ordinary than the standard monsters and cannon fodder.**

Camp Half-Blood was preparing for battle. The forges roared, the armory clattered, the healers were dashing around, trying to get supplies together. Yet the camp seemed slightly empty. The forges were not the happy go lucky area from before. With the Hephaestus kids gone, it fell to others to try to replicate their work. The Athena cabin had done their best to come up with a plan, as the bags under their eyes attested, but in the end had bowed aside to Annabeth and her, quote "superior wisdom". She refused to inform anyone of the whole plan, telling information on a need to know basis, claiming that it reduced the amount of errors.

The amount of troops they had to work with was severely reduced with the loss of the largest cabin in camp, the Hermes cabin. Aphrodite kids were not much of a loss overall, but the Dionysus kids were good fighters, even with the very small number of them. Dionysus had, surprisingly, been one of the most faithful gods to his wife. The cabin heads all gathered in the big House for a meeting, called by Annabeth. She called the meeting to order, rapping her hand down hard on the table several times to gain attention.

"Scouts have reported a monster army close by, who will be here in about two hours. I will set up the defense. Any questions?"

Clarisse stood up, thrusting her chair back. "Yes. I have a question. Just because you are immortal and a kid of Athena's gives you permission to take over this camp? I talked with some of the Apollo kids, and what the Hades are you thinking? Leaving the archers on flat ground protected by the Demeter kids? The heck Annabeth!"

Annabeth stood up as well, eyes flashing. "I know best! Not some punk kid of Ares! You have no idea what I have planned. So stay out of it."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no. I may be no tactician, but it almost seems as if you are leaving us as bait and expecting something else to hit the monsters while they slaughter us! Isolating the Ares kids, your best soldiers, leaving the archers in the open, protected by kids who grow plants! Either something is wrong or-" She found a dagger to her throat as Annabeth gripped the hilt tightly, staring into her eyes. The table exploded, with counselors leaping to their feet in alarm. The most obvious change was in Chiron. He drew himself to his full height and his voice thundered above the others, instantly drawing all attention.

"Stop! What are you doing Annabeth?" The daughter of Athena sneered, not taking her eyes off Clarisse.

"Dealing with a mutineer."

"She just asked a question. Nothing close to provoking this response." Annabeth withdrew her dagger and sheathed it slowly, before closing he eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Sorry. I don't know why I did that."

Clarisse turned her back contemptuously. "You can be sorry all you like girly, but we are through. You will fight this without the aid of our cabin." She left and the crowd was stunned into silence. Then all eyes turned to glare at Annabeth. She did her best to ignore them, shrugging.

"We don't need the likes of them to deal with the monsters. Whose with me?" Dead silence met her declaration. Several heads of the smaller cabins talked together for a minute before one of them stood forward to answer the blond girl.

"We are not. You just got rid of our best fighters! Who do you think you are? If they are not good enough than neither are we. We will stand and fight, but only because we do not wish to abandon our brethren. Otherwise, we would be out the door already. Watch your words you blond bimbo, because one more slip up and we are gone. Choose your next words carefully."

Annabeth sighed, before turning on her heel, the squeaking noise loud in the silence, before shrugging. "All right. Lets go set up."

* * *

"Percy, why are we going to Long Island?"

He looked at her, continuing to walk backwards as he did. "Because of two things. First, the camp will be destroyed soon, plus I have a feeling some people are deserting them. Also someone asked to talk to me, though I already know what my answer will be." Zoe walked with him, and the pair hurried on ahead, eager to get this out of the way. They climbed Half-Blood hill and Percy crossed his arms, scowling. "What is it Annabeth?"

"Okay, so here is the plan. The monsters will attack, and you and your group will strike them from behind. Sure, we will have a lot of casualties, but it will crush them easily."

He shook his head, disappointed and unhappy. "Where do you get off? We already said we will not help. That answer still stands. I cannot believe you will sacrifice demigods for this. Not that it matters, you will all be dead before an hour is up. Good luck. You will need it. May Hades have mercy on your soul."

Annabeth stared, stunned, at Perseus. Her entire plan had been forgotten. She had been more rattled than she admitted by Percy, and his stark assessment of CHB chances had not helped. She had been even more shocked when he would not help the demigods, even with his fatal flaw. All this combined led to her continuing to stare blankly at him, to the exclusion of all else. Malcolm kept shaking her shoulder, and shouting something at her. She slowly felt herself go numb as she realized the magnitude of her mistakes. She continued to look straight ahead, ignoring Malcolm. That spelled the end for the demigods. With no cohesive plan known and their leader out of comission, the monsters butchered them. It was a massacre. Many monsters fell, but wave after endless wave continued to swarm forward. The line fractured into small groups, each facing overwhelming odds. Each group slowly was cut to pieces as archers stood off at a distance and shot them apart. A few fighters managed to band together and fight their way into the woods, but they were few and far between.

* * *

Piper bent over for a moment, clutching her side as she heaved in air. She was doing her best to lead the Demeter kids to protect the archers, but they were getting overwhelmed. She spun and lashed out, catching a empousa in the side before ducking under a sword thrust and lunging forward... And that was it. The line had been broken and she was dragged further into the heaving mass of monsters as some hellhounds capitalized on the opening and surged forward, dragging down the nearest campers, opening a gap in the lines that was instantly swarmed, and the archers were doomed. A few, mostly Apollo kids and a Demeter child or two, were able to break away and sprint for the safety of the woods, but when the ground was again visible underneath the attacking army, not one demigod was left standing.

* * *

Despite their mother abandoning the Olympians, the cabin decided to stay and support their friends. The Aphrodite cabin had been tapped for support duty, seeing as they were mostly useless in a straight up confrontation. Ironically, when they rushed to the rescue of some of the lesser known half-bloods, they were the cabin to give the best account of themselves. Piper had gone to assist the Demeter cabin and left Lacy and Mitchell in charge. (Remember them?) Lacy deferred to Mitchell, as he had greater knowledge of war. He winced as he saw the archers go down, and he knew it was over. He ordered a tactical withdrawal in good order, sending some of the campers to fight a rear guard action. They were the only cabin to suffer minimal casualties.

* * *

Malcolm desperately tried to get Annabeth to wake up to the outside world, but was unsuccessful. He was forced to drag her away to get back to their fellow siblings before being cut off. As the whole cabin was pushed up against the smoking remains of the big house, he cast a desperate gaze to the top of Half-Blood hill. What he saw gave him hope. The Ares cabin, fully decked out and equipped, stood in ranks at the top of the hill, in the back of the monster army. He waved his hand in the air and shouted desperately to get their attention. Clarisse saw him and grimaced. She raise her hand to give a signal, before hesitating. Conflicting emotions played across her face before her shoulder slumped and she turned away, leading her followers away. Fear, shock, and resignation ran through him in short order. He heard a noise and glanced at Annabeth out of the corner of his eye. She was still staring at Percy, who, true to his word, was keeping out of the fight. He saw her whisper quietly. "I'm sorry." Then a laestrygonian threw a fiery cannonball at the place where she was standing and blew the surrounding area to bits. As the remaining demigods broke and started to run, he took on a one man stall tactic, sacrificing himself to allow the others to escape.

* * *

Percy shook his head looking over the battlefield below. "So much senseless slaughter. They never stood a chance." He turned away and walked away slowly, thinking of what he should do next. Malcolm had caught his attention, perhaps he was redeemable, even if he was a child of Athena. Food for thought.


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow. Not sure what got into you guys but thank you! I have received a steady trickle of reviews for my various stories across the past several days, and it inspired me (As well as giving me motivation) into writing some more. Every time I see a new review, it fills me with new determination to write, so please keep it up. Also, since I have only two days of duel credit summer class left, updates should pick up speed. I already have one other chapter for a different story done and in the process of being looked over, as well as one that is partway constructed. Anyway, you didn't come here to see me yap, so here goes.**

Reyna had been sitting in her office, working on the bane of her existence and her mortal enemy. Paperwork. So it came to pass that she was not particularly troubled at the interruption of the messenger. Anything that put off the inner gears of bureaucracy couldn't be all bad. Or that was her first impression. That was rapidly changed when a messenger bursting through the door. She spared a moment to look him up and down. His hair was tangled and matted, his armor was askew, he was missing his boots, and he was sopping wet. He had, in fact, just gotten out of the baths when the guards at the tunnel sounded the alarm. "What is it?"

"Excuse me for the interruption Praetor." He gasped, clutching the door frame with a shaking hand as he snapped off a vague salute in her direction. The fact he was even still standing after having sprinted across camp in full armor nonstop was impressive. "The guards at the highway have sounded the alarm for attack." The daughter of Bellona shot to her feet, steadying herself on her desk.

"Explain." She snapped.

"We were all in the baths when the alarm sounded. The guards are trying to slow them down, but they are heavily outnumbered and will not last long."

"Get everyone into battle array. Gather as many legionaries as you can in the next few minutes, we need an advance force to try to stall them and buy more time as well as to rescue the guards. I am leaving in three minutes, with or without back up. The clock is ticking. Go." The messenger saluted then turned and ran at full speed back outside, already shouting for troops at the top of his voice. She cursed mentally. She had gotten a warning about an impending attack a while back, and had reinforced the guard, almost quadrupling it. Then nothing had happened for over a week, and they had grown lax. She had allowed the guard number to shift back down, as manpower was needed elsewhere. And now they were paying the price.

Sh strode outside, cloak flapping, and looked over the square immediately outside her door. The messenger stood, panting, bent over with a cramp, but he had done his duty well. He had managed to gather a large amount of demigods in just a few minutes. She turned her attention up the hill and saw the ongoing fight. She knew they were outnumbered, but it did not matter. She personally knew the two guards. They were some of the foremost fighters the legion had, and they were living up to their reputation, trying to accomplish a orderly withdrawal. She knew just about everyone by name in the legion. It was one of the qualities that made her such an effective leader. There was no way in Pluto that she would allow any of her soldiers to die like that. She walked over to the legionaries and gestured. "Come on!" She turned and lead them out of the gates, just in time to see the last guard fall.

* * *

Hylla stood, looking at the satellite pictures an an iPad. She groaned as she realized the extant of the force sent at Camp Jupiter. She looked at Kinzie. "Gather all the Amazons, tell them to use the tunnels. We are going to help the Romans. We..." The words she was about to say left a bad taste in her mouth. "We are going to abandon Seattle. We leave in ten minutes." She walked back to the throne room and slumped into her seat, massaging her temples. She was the first queen in hundreds of years to order an abandonment of a place of residence. Yet she had no choice. They were obligated to help their brethren, and they simply did not have the force to simple kill all the monsters surrounding them. That left only the current choice.

* * *

"Is it ready?"

"Yes milord. We have put the virus into aerating bombs city wide that will only affect those with godly blood, they will go off through perforating holes and-"

"I don't care about anything except it being ready. Use it now."

"Yes sir." A lever was pulled, and the invasion commenced.

* * *

Kinzie came dashing into the throne room. "Hylla, they are already to go and have started the evacuation of Seattle. One of the rear guards reported hearing crackling noises and pops coming from one of the warehouses. Permission to investigate?"

"Granted. I'm coming with you. Tell the others to get out now." The queen and her attendant raced towards the report. When they got there, everything seemed to be normal. The pair crept inside, casting about for anything that could be wrong. They saw nothing... Until Kinzie coughed once, doubled over, and then slumped to the ground. Hylla caught her on the way down and looked at her. Her eyes were shut and she shuddered, her breathing becoming shallow. Hylla suddenly felt faint as well, but slung Kinzie over her shoulders in a fireman's carry and took off, running as fast as she could back in the direction from whence they came, the belt of Hippolyta giving her strength. She was only able with her waning strength to get them back to the throne room before she too collapsed. As her vision started to spin she saw a figure race into the throne room and crouch over them, hissing in dismay. "J-J-Jackson?" She slurred, losing control of her tongue.

The figure nodded. "The one and only Queen Hylla. I came here to warn you but it seems I got here too late. I assume you already ordered an evacuation?" She nodded slightly, not trusting her ability to say anything. "Well, that's good. It means all the Amazons will most likely make it out. Let's go." He scooped up the pair of them and started to slowly carry them to the tunnels where the other Amazons were. Once he got there he passed Kinzie off to someone else and pulled a syringe out of his pocket and injected Hylla with it. The queen slowly felt her motor functions return. Percy propped her up against a wall. "Sorry I got here too late. Camp Jupiter was under attack and that meant they would try to eliminate you so you could not ride to the rescue. I got here as soon as I could. I also came to tell you that Camp Jupiter is done for."

Hylla started to protest but the son of the sea god raised a hand. "Hear me out. They already have most of their army and equipment inside the Caldecott tunnel. They have already infiltrated Camp Jupiter, and the legionaries are outmatched and outnumbered. By the time you got there, even if you could ride as fast as Arion, it would be too late. They are doomed. So are the rest of the gods. Camp Half-Blood is already destroyed, and several minor gods have already fallen. I can get you all out of here and to safety, but I have a feeling you would not abandon your sister. Am I right?"

She nodded.

"I thought so. In that case, I can save your sister if all you Amazons agree to go to safety. Do we have a deal?" Hylla hesitated for a moment before reaching out and grasping his hand.

 **Good news. Today I finished my summer duel credit class. The last few days were a nightmare, including a 15 page paper and a fifteen minute presentation. But it is over, so I can write much more now. And if by some miracle you check out what I write and not Anaklusmos14, check him out. He started writing again today after being gone for a while, and his stories are topnotch.**


	14. Chapter 14 The Fall of Rome

The fall of Rome.

 **Josh01264** , **Yes, that is Phoebe from the hunters. I don't remember if she died or not during that fiasco in Puerto Rico, but if she did, she is alive in this storyline. Might not be canon but *shrugs shoulders* can't bring myself to care. No other hunters are mentioned prominently and I needed a name people would recognize. Think of it as an AU change. Actually, since this is fanfiction, doesn't that mean all fanfics are AU's? They do deviate from the storyline… Just something to think about. Thank you for your reviews.**

 **Disclaimer. I do not own PJO or any of the other fandoms my story line may reference during the course of events. I do, however, own a pair of throwing stars and a hatchet, which will be used with force against any lawyers or corporate suites who believe otherwise.**

Something was wrong. Completely aside from the fact they were under attack, more of the legion should be here. Reyna scanned the ranks, brows creased in worry. There was a noted lack of officers present, and less of the normal legionaries than could be expected. This brought up another problem. With the reduced number of troops, and the lack of chain of command, the normal defense plan would not work. The general battle strategy was to march out and fight on the field of Mars, outside the city walls. This would allow the troops room to move, and allow support from New Rome without the extreme risk of collateral damage. That whole plan hinged on fluid and quick responses from the troops, which required multiple officers, which at the moment was completely deficient. That left the other, less popular alternative. Street fighting. It gave them their best chance with a smaller number of troops, and would allow all kinds of traps and ambushes. Ironically, they were being blocked from that ideal choice by someone on their side. Terminus. The god of borders was being obstinate as usual, refusing to allow weapons inside the city boundaries, even though the alternative was the complete destruction of Rome. Reyna was enough of a commander to swallow her pride and recognize her troops would be torn apart on the field of battle in a fair confrontation. Some of their opponents she did not even recognize. To that end she had finally pulled a sack over the head of the nearest statue that was yelling at her in exasperation and dared him to stop her. Terminus then decided that it was not a battle worth fighting at the moment, considering the situation, but muttered darkly about getting the rule breakers after the fighting.

Reyna had ordered the evacuation of all non-fighting occupants of the city and had sent them towards the ocean, guarded by Lupa's pack, hoping that they could hire enough boats or convince Lord Neptune to assist. Now that civilians were out of the way, she could plan with a clear conscience.

The battle strategy was simple. They would have a central command center in the reinforced senate building. She had troops manning the outer defenses and ballista. They had orders to let loose at the monsters with everything they had. Once the monsters made contact, they were to fall back and reinforce the first line of defense. Reyna had set seven lines of defense up, the farther back they were, the stronger. The first was the weakest line, with the seventh the strongest. Once one line was given the order to retreat, they would fall back to the next line. The more technologically inclined soldiers along with the Vulcan kids had been given full release authority on traps between the lines on the condition that they were remote controlled. Reyna overheard discussions containing ideas such as "Exploding flowerpots" "Land mined cobblestones" "Hornet nests" and "Poisoned Root Beer."

That last one caused her to raise an eyebrow, but she dismissed the thought in favor of more important measures.

* * *

The wall top commander, one Jonathan Thome, looked out over the sea of monsters. They were heavily outnumbered, and the enroching force would clearly make it to the walls. From there, it would be simple, albeit hard, to make it to the top of the walls and cause a hand to hand fight. That was a nightmare scenario for him. Normally Romans enjoyed close quarter brawls, for that was where they specialized after all. But here, on the shallow wall top… There was simply not enough space to form the usual front that the Romans used, and when they were so vastly outnumbered, he could ill afford to lose a single soldier. He watched the oncoming enemy with calculating eyes, gauging the distance with the skill of an expert.

"Ready!" He shouted. The rattle of shafts being drawn from quivers echoed across the battlements. "Step up!" All the archers moved forward, taking positions behind and slightly to the side of the initial line of defenders. If they did not hide behind them, they would be sitting ducks for enemy fire. As it was, the shields being held up protected them. Those holding the shields needed to be calm, and not easily scared. The archers would be firing over their shoulders, just beside their heads. If one of them lost their nerve and moved sideways… He shuddered mentally. He did not need his men falling victim to friendly fire this early in the fight. "Fire!" He barked. The _scrape-rattle-hiss_ of the firing sequence sounded loudly in his ear as he stood, unmoving, as his hair was whipped around him by the passage of the projectiles.

The cloud of arrows streaked forward and slammed into the first wave of the oncoming army. Monsters dissolved and burst into dust, except for a few that had been smart enough to hide behind shields or throw themselves to the ground. Jonathan blanched as he looked at the damage done. In seconds, the place of the fallen monsters was filled by new troop, and it was as if the defense had done no damage at all. He cursed under his breath. The monster army was still pouring over the borders of the valley, and he could no longer see any ground. Glancing form side to side, the same story was everywhere. The army filled the valley to the brim, a solid sea of soldiers, and in that moment, Jonathan knew something. It was hopeless. There was no way they could win, barring multiple gods interfering, which was forbidden by the ancient laws. Still, there was no way in Tartarus he was going down without a fight. He would do his best to take as many of those bastards down with him as he could.

He turned to see his troops and slung his shield over his back for some protection, before stepping on the top of the battlements, back to the invading force as arrows whizzed around him before stopping, as if the monsters were interested in what he had to say.

"You are all soldiers of Rome. You do not fear death, you respect it! We are fighting for the survival of the gods and the world as we know it. Whatever may come at us, you will stand your ground, as soldiers and citizens of Rome. If you will not do it for yourself, do it for your friends. Your family. Your neighbors. The innocent mortals. We will show them not to trifle with the power of Rome!" As he finished the troops under his command shouted agreement, banging their swords on their shields, before he waved his hands for silence. "As for the attackers, I have only one thing to say." He pivoted so he was standing alone on the wall, exposed to anyone should a monster decided to take a potshot at him, cloak snapping in the wind. "Bring it on." He jumped down from his perch as arrows split the air around him, landing crouched before straightening and calling out orders. "Archers! Fire when ready! Not like they can possibly miss." He muttered to himself. "Water cannons, ballista, whatever you have, let them have it!"

* * *

Percy stood, observing the siege of Rome, with a small group of people around him. "That is a brave man." He commented aloud. "He is worth saving. Remind me to take him with us." Hylla raised her hand and asked a quite important question.

"If you swore not to interfere and not to attack the monsters, how do you plan to get Reyna out?"

He beamed back at her. "I was wondering when someone would ask that. When I swore my oath, I worded it very carefully. I and those who follow me cannot interfere, but you and the Amazons can. The way I see it, I was here just happening to take a vacation in New Rome when the monsters attacked. Who am I to stop you from forcibly making your sister leave the city? And if you happen to get caught in my teleportation to take the rest of us to a safe place, as we fear for our safety, who am I to disagree?"

There were several _ahh's_ of understanding as Percy smirked. "Exactly. Loopholes. Gotta love 'em. Unfortunately, we cannot save most of them." His voice took on a somber tone. "And we cannot get your sister out until we make sure that everyone we want to save is in the same place. This way, I have at least a fig leaf of plausible deniability. I do not think the Styx or the Fates would appreciate me abusing the privilege."

* * *

"How goes the fight?"

"Our troops made it into the valley without incident, and the infiltrators have avoided detection thus far. The walls are proving to be an annoyance. We had hoped that the show of force would have made them cave easier, but they are holding fast. Their commander has inspired them to keep fighting. We have suffered heavy casualties, but it is a drop in the bucket to our numbers."

"Lord Kronos wants the city leveled by day's end. Can you achieve that?"

"Possible, but unlikely. The walls will hold for a few more hours, and they are sure to have set up defensive positions. The street fighting should take a lot of time too. Time to take the gloves off?"

"Why not. What is the point of fun toys if you don't use 'em? Tell the front line troops to try to get hostages, specifically officers. If we can disable their command structure their lines will disintegrate."

"Yes sir. Right away."

* * *

Jonathan paced back and forth, wearing a hole in the stonework. They had held so far, but he had noted some worrying signs. A cluster of the larger, stronger monsters had been gathering at one juncture, constructing something. That, combined with the fact that the pressing force had withdrawn out of easy bowshot range made him nervous. He _hated_ when the opponent played mind games. Not that he wasn't good at them; he just would prefer a straight up fight. He watched as a wooden construct slowly formed, reaching toward the sky. He vaguely recognized the base form as a medieval projectile launcher, but with some major additions.

As something was loaded into the piece of engineering, he made a decision. "Sound the retreat. Fall back to the first line."

One of his subordinates protested. "Sir, we are in no imminent dang-"

Jonathan was instantly in his face. "That was an _order_. Do it now."

Troops started to solely file down from the wall tops, moving much to slow for Jonathan's likening. "Come on, come on…" He muttered. "Hurry up…"

He saw a golden light start to shine from the projectile and he paled. He quickly put the pieces together. "Get down!" He roared, throwing himself at the nearest soldiers and knocking them, and him, down the last story of steps to ground level. Not a moment too soon either. A sonic boom shattered the air as the missile streaked into the wall before detonating, vaporizing almost a hundred meters of wall instantly. Jonathan slowly picked himself off the ground, coughing. He staggered to his feet, grabbing hold of a piece of masonry until the ringing in his ears subsided, before glancing up. He smelled singed hair, and dimly realized it was coming from him. The projectile had gone subsonic before smashing into the wall and exploding. Green flames roared all along the front row or two of buildings, as the Greek Fire devoured all in its path. Chunks of stonework had been bodily ripped from the wall by the blast and hurled all over the place, including further into the city, resulting in even more injuries, and the heat wave from the explosion had instantly incinerated almost half of the men under his command.

"Sir! Sir!" Jonathan heard a noise, but was unable to make out any words. He turned, head cocked, before cleaning out his ears and shaking his head.

"What?"

"What was that?"

"If I had to guess I would say a compressed Greek Fire bomb with some kind of blessing from Kronos added in. That resulted in it instantly going supersonic before hitting the wall and exploding. I used to be an artillery officer with the mortals, and I enjoyed it. It's times like this that I realize how much I hate it being used against me." His eyes widened and he lunged forward, instantly whipping out his sword before thrusting it over the left shoulder of his subordinate. With wide eyes he slowly turned around. Jonathan's sword had gone over his shoulder into the stomach of a cyclops. Jonathan cast his gaze towards the expanse where the walls used to reside and cursed. "Get anyone injured to safety. Then have everyone head to the nearest line of defense. The walls are lost." With that said he took off running before coming to a halt in the road between two buildings, resulting in a slight bottleneck.

He had spotted the frontrunners racing to take advantage of the lapse afforded to them by the decimation of the forces guarding the walls and had recognized the danger. He had gotten off easily with only slightly burnt armor and a possible concussion. Everyone else was likely still stumbling around trying to get their bearings or out cold. His mind went into autopilot as he fought to buy his men some time. Hack. Thrust. Parry. Duck. Shield Bash. Sidestep. Repeat. He was broken out of his reverie by some of more alert, or more fortunate, men racing to help their commander. While not nearly enough to force the monsters back or even hold the gap, they were forced back before as one they turned and raced for the relative safety of the first ring.

The first ring really wasn't much of a defense. The entire purpose was simple. Give the troops from the walls a chance to catch their breath and regroup. It was mostly composed of a trench with spikes at the bottom with a basic palisade with platforms for archers behind it. Really not much of a help in a defensive situation like this one, though it did prevent centaurs or cavalry from just running down the men from the walls without hindrance. What it was perfect for was allowing some traps to be set to cause some damage.

* * *

Reyna had kept an eye on the situation at the walls through some messengers and some of the massive Golden eagles. The destruction of the best defense New Rome had in essentially one strike was terrifying. On the plus side, it seemed the backlash and recoil had splintered the catapult/trebuchet thingy. She turned to the head of the Vulcan kids who had an absolutely massive remote in his hand. As in, the size of an extra-large pizza box, with each switch the size of a pin head or two. Needless to say, they had liberally sprinkled the city with traps, mines, and other nasty surprises in the short amount of time they had. She nodded towards him and the soldier saluted. He peered at the labels for a moment before pushing four of them.

* * *

Jonathan kept an eye on the street as his arm was being bandaged. He had not gotten out completely unscathed. He had taken a nasty cut across his sword arm, incapacitating it. He had been given strict orders not to use that arm, which was now in a sling, except as an absolute last resort. He smiled in appreciation as he saw four small explosions, two on either side of the streets the main attacking force was marching down, at the base of the buildings. The houses and shops hesitated for a moment before toppling forward onto the monsters. Many were crushed as the scattered, attempting to save themselves. Suddenly a massive barricade of broken stone was scattered in the street, holding up the advance. The Romans took full advantage of this to send any injured and most of the non-archers to the second line. The archers got to liberally pepper the regrouping monsters while they had a few guards left in case a fast striking section of monsters got to close range. It turned out to be a good idea. Jonathan had refused to leave any of his men behind, and had stayed, even though he could not fight. He was the first to see them. Several hellhounds leaped the ditch before lowering their shoulders and slamming into the palisade. Jonathan shouted a warning, and most of the soldiers were able to unsheathe swords before they were engaged. Most were put down quickly, but the attack had served its purpose. The archers had been neutralized for the moment, several Romans were down, and worst of all dracaena archers has set up shop on top of the toppled stone and were launching missiles down at them. The general consensus with to withdraw, and the Romans did so with astounding speed, keeping their shields slung behind their backs to afford protection from stray arrows.

* * *

Two dozen legionaries in a detachment commanded by centurion Quill were positioned in a building inside the third ring, acting as a planned ambush party. They were forestalled when the door was busted down and several empousa flooded the room. They were caught completely by surprise. The battle had not even reached the second ring yet, so they were wholly unprepared. Centurion Quill reached for her sword but was batted across the room by one of the attackers and she slammed into the wall hard enough to leave bruises. Thank Chaos for armor. She staggered to her feet and was met by a claw to her throat. She carefully raised her arms in surrender and the empousa nodded in satisfaction. The boys were guided to one corner and watched over by two of the vampire-esque monsters, their magic enough to ensure enthrallment. The girls were lead to a different corner and watched by half the invading force. The rest of the empousa who were not engaged took up positions around the room to attack any who entered. Quill cursed mentally. They should have been ready for something like this. Now all they could do was wait and hope for rescue.

* * *

Reyna groaned as the news came in. Quill had been a capable officer and the fact that she had been so easily subdued was worrying. That meant either they had been completely outmatched or they were taken completely by surprise. Neither option was good. She wrote out a message to the nearest group of soldiers and instructed them to do what they could for a rescue. She did not have high hopes, but they had to try.

* * *

Gwen was not a happy officer. The distant descendent of Demeter rubbed her eyes tiredly. First, Rome was attacked during her graduation ceremony, but she had then been pressed into service in the defense, not that she objected, and given command in the absence of the previous commanding officer. That might have been tolerable, as she was happy to help defend her home. What she was not happy about was their assigned task. They would have to attempt a hostage rescue. Their opponent did not help matters. Half of her command was boys. That meant they would have to wear earplugs to help resist the magic used by the servants of Hecate. In turn, they had to have a plan before they stormed their objective, as she would have no way to communicate with them after they attacked. She had spent several minutes assessing the situation and she felt confident that she had come up with the best plan she could, given the circumstances.

She turned to those under her. "Alright, here is the plan. I am going to break down the door and draw any immediate fire. As soon as the door is down I am going to try to get to the ground to get out of the way. Archers, as soon as I am out of the way, fire. Let them have it." The five archers nodded, unconsciously fumbling with their quivers. "Johnson, Pomperna. I need the pair of you to each select two other soldiers and go in through the windows as soon as we rush the front door. Shatter them; destroy them if you have to. I don't care. We have no time for a soft approach." The appointed commanders nodded, already calling on their selections. "Finally, the rest of you. After the archers fire two volleys, rush in. We will need the help to hold them off. Attack the empousa guarding the prisoners if possible. If we can free them that will give us a numbers advantage, and we need all the help we can get. Got it?" Everyone nodded, except for one person. "Yes?"

"But Ma'am, if you go in the front alone and anything goes wrong, you will be torn to pieces!"

Gwen nodded. "First, don't call me Ma'am. Makes me feel old. Second, I know that. But I won't order any of you to do something I won't do myself. Get in position, we attack in three minutes."

* * *

Reyna was rapidly realizing that monsters were already in the city, well in advance of the main thrust. They had utilized alleys and back ways to incapacitate any Roman they found, along with taking hostages wherever possible. That did explain the lack of officers she had in command. Most of them had probably been taken out before the attack. The upshot of this was that she was now dealing with rogue forces and hostage situations across the city. Luckily, one group had been able to get away by leading their captors, a herd of horned centaurs, to the aforementioned poisoned Root Beer. The others had not been so fortunate. Now she had to pull men away from their stations along the lines and the reserve to deal with them. She could not afford to have monsters running rampant behind her lines. If they reigned unchecked, the battle was already over. She was currently hesitating on whether to send backup to Gwen, before deciding to adopt a wait-and-see approach.

* * *

Quill took a moment to subtly glance around. She had no idea how the battle outside was going, but she was scanning for anything she could use against the empousa. That was when the door was knocked down for the second time in an hour. An officer she vaguely recognized landed in a crouch before throwing herself to the side to avoid some hastily thrown fireballs. Then the windows were shattered, and suddenly seven or eight romans were fighting the empousa, with more storming the front door. Two of them were headed in her direction. One empousa saw them and screeched a warning to the guards. It was too late. The two guarding vampires were body checked away from the prisoners, who quickly snatched up weapons and rushed to join the fight. It was over in minutes. One crisis averted, infinity more to go.

* * *

Those random monsters roaming the city on their own or in packs were annoying. They were way ahead of the monster army, and pooped up in the worst places. Some of them had managed to bypass the second ring and attack them from behind in conjunction with an attack from the front. All the monsters that struck from behind were dead, and the wave in front was beaten back, but at a heavy cost. Not knowing which way to turn or where to fight, many Romans had died, and of the ones remaining, very few were unscathed. Jonathan had been knocked out during the attack, sheltering a downed soldier with his body from the paw strike of a hellhound. Thanks to his helmet, and thick head, he would be fine shortly once he woke up. He was wheeled on a gurney back to the next line, recognizing they could not adequately protect him and themselves at the same time. The second line was doomed. With the loss of a good amount of their number, in addition to the always pressing monsters not allowing them a moments rest, along with the absence of one of the most inspiring leaders in the legion, Jonathan, it was only a matter of time. The line was overrun within ten minutes. All the troops that managed to break away and make it to the third line safely, injured or not, amounted to less than a fifth of those that had originally held the second line.

* * *

Reyna really did not want to deal with this right now. The legion was being driven back across the city, on the third line of defense. Some of the monster army had scaled the now undefended back wall and swarmed forward, putting pressure on the defenders from two sides. On top of that, a small group of monsters had made it past the sentries stationed around the command center and burst in, one of them almost managing to destroy the remote that controlled the traps, but had been killed quickly. The remote had been saved in a desperate diving tackle from one of the alert guards in the room, managing to get her hands underneath it. She had just been handed an estimated causality report and she did not want to read it. She slowly unfolded it and let out a long sigh and slumped forward before massaging her face with her hands. A third. A third of the Romans were dead or unable to fight. The majority had been lost at the wall. Now, while the latter fortifications were stronger, with less and tired men manning it, it was only a matter of time before New Rome was destroyed and overrun. She exited the room before heading to the roof to get an overview of the situation. She stood on tiptoe, anxiously watching the progress of the fight for the third wall. At this point, she was losing men at each ring. If she took causalities at this rate, all her men would be dead before they got to the seventh wall. She was considering pulling all the remaining troops back to the seventh wall and making a last stand while praying for divine intervention. She turned to order the retreat as the third wall was overrun, but was stayed by the sound of a horn.

* * *

Jonathan continued to order the defense from his cot. He was now in charge of the majority of the defense as he outranked most of the troops here and his two superiors, besides Reyna, were dead or unconscious. He drew daggers in both hands as he watched a rush make it over the wall and staggered to his feet, determined to go down fighting. Then he heard the horn. Gwen, Quill, and their troops streamed out of an alleyway and crashed into the right flank of the monster horde, driving them back at the last moment. Surprised and caught off guard, with numbers getting in the way, the monsters were driven back a block. But alas, things could not be rosy forever. An explosion, followed by several smaller ones, sounded through the air as the Romans looked for whatever caused them. The results were horrible. Another of those projectiles that went subsonic had destroyed part of the fifth barrier while some of the infiltrated monsters set off detonations that destroyed the fourth. Suddenly, the mood went from exuberant as the monsters were driven back, to fear, realizing they only had two intact lines of defense remaining. Still, the monsters seemed as numerous as the grains of sand on the shore, as no matter how many fell, more stepped up to take their place. The Romans charge eventually ran out of momentum, until it finally stalled and reversed direction. The hunters had become the hunted.

* * *

Reyna turned to her nearest subordinate. "Sound the retreat. Pull everyone back to the final wall." She ran inside, searching for the person in charge of the traps. She skidded to a halt in the command center. "Use all the traps left to buy time for the troops to disengage. Do it now." The mournful tones rang out over the burning city, attracting the attention of every Roman, who broke contact and ran towards the center of the city. Behind them, the road ignited in a sea of fire, with oil being poured from containers in the buildings to the side, causing a fiery maelstrom the monsters hesitated to advance into.

* * *

A figure in a cloak stood on a spur of rock projecting from the now destroyed wall. "What is the hold-up? He barked. A dracaena slithered forward hesitantly before bowing half-heartedly.

"Lord, the sssstreet issss on fire."

"What?" The figure climbed higher to get a better view before scowling as he saw the tips of the flames and the smoke rising from the street. "Lord Kronos wants the city destroyed by nightfall. Do whatever is needed to get through, no matter the cost. Understood?"

"Yesssss lord." She slithered away to carry out his orders and the figure sighed before rubbing his eyes tiredly. He had not expected the city of New Rome to put up this much of a fight. Nor had he expected to lose so many troops in the attempt. It no longer mattered anymore, as the city stood on the brink of destruction. At this point, they had no hope of resisting him. Everyone in the city would be dead as per his orders within the next few hours. He had fought against this order to his master, but had been overruled. A glyph on his sleeve started to glow and shake, before finally shattering. He shot to his feet, incredulously checking his robe before a bright light caught his attention.

* * *

Percy and his company strolled past the guards into the command center where all the remaining romans were huddled. He cleared his throat loudly, attracting attention from everyone in the room. "Oh dear. My safety appears to be in danger. I must leave the city at once to preserve my life. I do hope no romans get caught in the teleportation and accidently escape. What a shame that would be."

Reyna stepped forward, searching his face. "Percy?"

"As I said to your sister, the one and only." He bowed, gesturing to Hylla standing next to him.

"Hylla? What are you doing here?"

"I am here to get you out. I will not have you dying here if it is within my power to save you."

Reyna shook her head resolutely. "No. I must stay with my soldiers. I will not abandon them."

Hylla shook her head. "Tsk tsk. I was afraid you would say that. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Kinzie?" The Amazon in question appeared behind the praetor and hit her over the head, causing her to sag forward. Hylla caught her and slung her over her shoulder.

Several of the other legionaries in the room shot to their feet, hands on their weapons. "What do you think you are doing?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Come on. Isn't it obvious? Saving her life. And yours as well, if you are within about thirty meters of me when I leave. I cannot interfere any more than that. Well? Ya coming?"

"But what about the others?"

Percy bowed his head. "They are beyond my ability to save. What I can do is get you, your praetor, and any other injured out of here while showing the rest a tunnel that might get them out so your fellows will not have died in vain. I ask again, are you coming?"

The other soldiers in the room shrugged before several dashed out of the room and returned wheeling several cots containing wounded soldiers. They pushed them as close to Percy as possible, not willing to risk anything. A cap appeared on Percy's head and a hole puncher appeared in his hand. "Tickets please, tickets?" At the blank looks that greeted him he sighed. "No love for the classics. Who will lead those staying?"

A hand rose towards the back of the room and Percy nodded in approval. "Good. Come here." The officer in question approached and Percy leaned close before whispering instructions to him on how to get out. He pulled back and looked at him. "Got it?" At the bobbing of the head he smiled. "Good. You might want to leave the room if you don't want to be teleported away." The legionary sprinted to get out of the way and Percy closed his eyes. A glow started to emanate from him as it permeated the whole room before a slight whoosh was heard as the light exploded throughout the room, blinding anyone with their eyes open. When the spots cleared out of the eyes of those remaining the vast room was empty. Everything was still. Absolutely still.

* * *

The figure shook his head in anger as a column of light shot from the center of the burning city and streaked high into the air. He knew what his troops would find when the flames died down and they reached the center of the city. Nothing. "Curse you to Tartarus Jackson…"

 **This was quite the lengthy chapter for me. Almost twice as long as my previous high in words. I just wanted to encapsulate all of the defeat of New Rome in one chapter, hence the delay in updating this story. I just think that although Terminus is obstinate, he has enough respect for Reyna and the job she has done with New Rome that he will let her get away with it in a state of emergency. Than does not include the consequences he will cause afterwards though. Also, Camp Jupiter is putting up much more of a fight for three reasons. One, it is an eminently more defensible position. With the exception of Bunker 9, Camp Half-Blood is wide open. New Rome has walls, ballista, and entrenched defensive positions. Two, Rome has more, and better, troops. Man for man at the highest level, the best from the Roman and Greek sides is probably about equal in skill. The next level down easily goes to the Romans. Finally, Reyna did not freeze up and have her plan rely on one variable. The saying of no plan survives contact with the enemy is quite true, so she kept everything simple. She played defense, reacted to threats, and did a better job of preparing. Leadership makes a huge difference. Unfortunately, they were eventually worn down, and the infiltrators taking down legionnaires from behind didn't help. The final straw was when Reyna was forced off the field. The officers introduced will not have a large role the rest of the way; I just needed some on the spot viewpoints to describe the battle. Much more description in this chapter, as opposed to some of the others where I just summarized. Which do you prefer? Summarized or in depth?**


	15. Chapter 15

Everything was fuzzy when Reyna opened her eyes before instantly slamming them shut against the invading light. She tried again, squinting against the brightness, before blinking, trying to clear her vision. This time, she could open her eyes without being blinded and blearily surveyed the room. She seemed to be on a bed in a relatively plain room. There was nothing fancy, just a dresser and a mirror with a couple chairs. Her gaze locked on one of them. Her sister sat on a chair, pulled up to the foot of the bed, looking at her. Hylla broke the tense silence. "You okay?"

Reyna instantly threw herself upright and lashed out with a punch, aiming to hit her sister in the face. Reyna's arm didn't go farther than a few feet before being jerked to an abrupt halt. She cast an incredulous glance to the side and found her arm was shackled to the wall. "What is this?" She growled.

Hylla held up her hands in surrender. "We only did that so you wouldn't attack anyone in the vicinity when you woke up. You were just in the middle of a battle." Reyna paused for a moment before accepting the explanation. "If you promise not to kill someone I will unlock it. Okay?" At the nod she received she pulled out a small key and unlocked the cuff. Reyna massaged her wrist for a moment before lashing out, and this time connecting.

Her sister popped back off the floor to her feet and massaged her jaw. "Dang girl, you have gotten stronger since I last saw you. That is a mean right hook you have there. I pity the male if anyone ever cheats on you. You will beat him into a bloody pulp." She was interrupted by a slap across the face. Hylla felt her cheek gingerly. "I guess I deserved that one."

"Yes. You did." Reyna growled. "Who do you think you are, forcing me to abandon my troops?" Her sister's gaze glared at her for a moment before softening.

"Your sister. I put your safety first. If it makes you feel any better we 'accidently' teleported most of the remaining guards and injured out with us." She said, making air quotes with her hands.

Reyna quirked an eyebrow. "Accidently?"

"Yes. We had no idea that would happen. We just happened to be in the city at the time of the attack and were forced to flee for our safety. Shame most of the Romans escaped with us." Hylla responded, face deadpan.

Reyna's shoulders slumped in relief. "Thank you."

"No!" Hylla held up a finger. "Don't thank me. Thank Perseus. _He_ saved you. Not me. I just happened to be tagging along."

"How did you know we were being attacked?"

"We were as well. Most of us had already left when Kinzie and I got hit by a gas attack. Percy saved us both and got us out. We agreed not to take the Amazons and try to come rescue you if he took us under his protection and got you out."

"Why would you agree to that?"

"Because he pointed out, rightly I might add, that we would not have made it in time. We would have arrived after the fight was over and been exhausted, while the monsters would have had a good night's sleep, outnumber us, and be ready for us the following day. It would have been a slaughter. As for why we entered under his protection, Kronos swore on the Styx not to attack him or anyone under his protection."

Reyna frowned. "Why on earth would Kronos agree to that?"

Hylla shrugged. "No idea. If you want the specifics you will have to ask Perseus. I think the basics was Percy agreed not to join the war effort. Though he did leave a loophole…" She trailed off.

"What loophole? And what about the mortals?"

Hylla smiled. "That is the loophole. If a monster, titan, or being of any kind affiliated with Kronos attacks or hurts or harasses a mortal, Percy is free to strike back. I think right now he is just gathering forces and waiting for an excuse to join in. Though I do not think he will interfere until all the gods are destroyed. He has quite the little grievance against them."

"Interesting." Both sisters lapsed into awkward silence before Hylla stood up.

"I have to go check on my Amazons." She walked towards the door and had opened it when Reyna, head down, called her name.

"Hylla?" Her sister, hand on the knob of the door as she was about to leave, turned and raised an eyebrow. "Thank you. Sorry about hitting you. You didn't deserve that."

Her sister considered that apology for a moment with pursued lips, before nodding and returning a smile. "No problem. Just remember, I always try to do what is best for you." She left the room, shutting the door with a quiet click, leaving Reyna alone with her thoughts.

* * *

"Hey Leo? How is your experiment going?" The son of Hephaestus wiped his oil-stained hands on a towel before turning to Percy and raising an eyebrow.

"Seriously? Could you be less descriptive? I have dozens of projects." Percy snorted.

"You know the one I mean. The one to arm the valley." Leo's smile faded.

"Well, it's kind of a mixed bag. Have you watched Star Wars or the Avengers?"

"Yes. What does that have to do with anything?"

Leo sighed before leaning against the side of the forge. "I originally had planned to make something along the lines of the blasters. Just point and shoot. Easy right? Then I discovered that the amount of celestial bronze needed to power each thing constantly would be ridiculous. And we need weapons on such a large scale that it wouldn't really make a difference if we made a few. Though I do have some prototypes that some of us can try out if you want. Anyway, that did not go so well. So I switched focus. We have been having trouble protecting out scouts right? 'Cause they aren't fast enough to get away if anything goes wrong. So I made this." He gestured to a sheet covered machine before whipping the cover off. "Behold!"

Percy cocked his head as he looked at the invention. It was a little less than the thickness of a pizza box while being a couple feet in length. "What is this?"

"This, my friend, is my latest and greatest invention. I decided to try to make those flying scooter things with guns the Chituari had in the Avengers movie, before deciding it was a tad extravagant. So I made my own version. Think of it as a flying snowboard, minus the weapons. Watch!" Leo leaped on it before twisting his feet and hearing a snap as they locked in. His back foot appeared to be on a slight swivel. Leo shoved his heel down, activating some kind of pressure pad. Small jets of flame shot out the back end as he zoomed off, effortlessly doing a few tricks and loop de loops in the air. He shot back over to Percy before dismounting while in motion, kicking it into the air before catching it and slinging it across his back. "Ta da! What do you think?"

Percy shook his head in exasperation. "Only you Leo. Only you. Wait… How did you get ahold of the blueprints for those things anyway?"

Leo looked shifty for a minute and took a moment to respond. "I… may have… Hacked into Stark's computer systems?" Percy looked at him for a moment before shaking his head.

"Anyway, do you have the full list of our allies like I asked?"

"Yup." Leo rummaged around in his tool belt for a minute before handing it over. "Here you go."

"Thanks Leo. Feel like watching the last stand of the gods?" Leo snapped his fingers, instantly extinguishing the fires in the room before scooping all his tools up and putting them in his magic tool belt.

"Of course! You didn't start it without me did you? Because if you did, I hope you recorded it."

Percy quickly checked his watch. "Nope. It should start in a few minutes. I got the popcorn."

Leo flicked a fire ball in the air. "And I got the heat. Let's go make some snacks!"

 **Yah so this is mostly filler. I had to force myself to come up with something to give people reading this. I have most of the next chapter done, I just need to finish it and polish it. Not too long left in the story.**


	16. Chapter 16

**And then there were 16. After this chapter the story will start heading for its conclusion. There are probably around four chapters left, give or take. This should push me to over 30 thousand words. I hope to hit the benchmark of 40 thousand by the ending of this. Again, please review. My 6k plus chapter did not even get one review. Reviews are what make my world go round. I apologize for my (relatively) lengthy absence. Between the hospital, writer's block, and a vacation I just did not get it done. I would love it if someone would like to volunteer to beta for one of my stories, I don't care which. I have a part time job and duel credit is starting up along with college aplications. I will write when I can, but no promises.**

Percy and Leo walked towards the room where the other spectators were gathering. They were not the only ones who had a dislike against the gods. Various mortals, gods, monsters, and demigods had shown up for the event. Percy felt a sudden weight add on to his belt under his cloak. Curious, he cast a look at Leo who winked at him before putting a finger to his lips. Ah. So it was one of his experiments. He made a mental note to be careful with it. Usually they were reliable but there had been… a few accidents when Leo was in too much of a hurry to add in failsafe features. He resolved to use it only if he didn't have a choice. He cast a quick glance around the room, performing a quick head count. After ensuring everyone who signed up was ready, he snapped his fingers. A bright glow covered them all and when it faded the whole group was on the sidelines of an absolutely massive clearing on Mount Olympus. They busied themselves setting up lawn chairs for themselves, along with pillows, just for the extra comfort. Percy knew the battle would be held here. This was the last chance for the gods to stave off destruction. The sky high ego of the gods would ensure that they would stand and fight here, well away from their temples to decrease the risk of collateral damage. His lip curled. Idiots. They were throwing away their best chance at survival because of possible damage to cosmetics.

Zeus and the remainder of the gods flashed in along with whatever force they could muster. All in all, it was not the most impressive of arrays. The entire army was composed of the remainder of the Olympian gods, the few survivors of Camp Half-Blood, the exhausted portion of the Romans that managed to escape through the passage Percy told them of, and that was mostly it. The bulk of the force was composed of nature spirits and minor gods. Most of the nature spirits were milling around nervously, clutching clubs. It was obvious they would not last very long in a real engagement. In fact, they were likely to break and run at the first sign of the enemy.

Zeus looked over towards them and snarled. He saw row upon row of people anxiously waiting to see the gods toppled. They sat on fold out chairs, with coolers next to them and a popcorn machine currently being run by Leo Valdez. There were a variety of colorful banners and slogans currently being held up. Some of them said things like "Kronos is the best!" "Kronos for the win!" "Zeus suxs." and "The gods are gonna get pwnded!" One of them even had a foam hand that read "Kronos is da MVT!" Needless to say, this was not very encouraging. The mass of beings turning out to watch them get destroyed is not very conducive to morale.

One of the figures in the front row rose from his seat and headed towards the approaching gods, grabbing one of them by the arm and pulling him aside. "We need to talk." Percy hissed. He gestured to the rag tag group the Olympians had. "You know they cannot hope to stand against Kronos! They will be massacred!"

Poseidon sighed before rubbing his eyes wearily. "I know that. You know that. Zeus does not know that. He in his pride thinks we will have no trouble running Kronos off the field of battle. He may be an idiot, same with those who follow him, but they are still family. I cannot just abandon them."

"But if you don't you will die!"

"Quite possibly. But I must stay and support them." Percy groaned before clasping the bridge of his nose.

"Fine. But as soon as it is clear that the battle is lost, flee the field alright? I don't want to lose my dad."

Poseidon wrapped him in a hug. "Don't worry. I have no intention of dying today. I will retreat back to the oceans as soon as I can. Alright?"

"Deal. I'll hold you to that." Percy separated and returned to his seat while Poseidon went to try to convince Zeus that their course of action was folly one more time.

Leo leaned over and whispered something in the ear of the person next to him, who nodded eagerly and ran across the field. The son of Hephaestus sat back; quite satisfied with the idea he had set up.

Lee Jordan ran into the woods on either side before encountering the front of the monster horde and raising his hands in surrender.

"Chill out guys. I'm with Percy. He told me to come ask Kronos a question." Most of the monsters looked at each other before shrugging. Two of the dracaena stepped forward and escorted through the marching ranks. He eventually made his way to Kronos.

The titan frowned at him. "What does Jackson want? Does he wish to change his deal? Because if so, tell him the answer is no."

Lee Jordan shook his head quickly. "No! Not that at all. You see, a large amount of people have shown up to see the gods get destroyed. We were wondering if you could…" He communicated the rest in a hushed tone to Kronos before sitting back. "What do you think?"

Kronos looked at him warily before hesitantly nodding. "On the condition that you swear on the Styx this is what you said it was and not a lie or a trap of any kind."

Lee grinned. "Done! And remember, wait for your cue!" He raced off to set things up before the monster army arrived. Kronos followed his progress until he was out of sight, shaking his head slightly. Then he turned and began to pull on his most extravagant set of armor. He was going to give them a show.

* * *

"Your attention please!" Everyone on both sides quieted as the voice boomed out across the field. Lee had brought a microphone and was speaking into it. "We appreciate you all turning out to support us today! For those of you just tuning in from your home, welcome! Thank you for your patience so far, and that patience is about to be rewarded! That's right, ladies and gentlemen; we are bringing you the heavyweight matchup of the century! The clash for control of the world! The struggle for supremacy!

Aaannnnddddddddd now, the moment you have all been waiting for! The destruction of the gods, brought to you live! Please put your hands together for the star attraction, the master of monsters, the titan of time, KKKKRRROOOONNNNNOOOSSSSS!" The watching crowd all went wild, giving him a rising ovation and cheering, whistling and making noise in celebration as Kronos strode onto the field, smiling and waving to the crowd, shining like the sun in his armor.

"And on the other side. The gods." The announcer tone was flat, bored, and disinterested. The crowd again made noise, but this time in the form of loud boos aimed at the Olympians.

Then Lee ran out onto the field and pulled out a set of flags, one red and one blue and held them in the air. His voice still echoed across the field thanks to his microphone. "This will be a matchup of armies to decide who will rule. First side to die loses, and I want a fair and clean match!" He brought the flags swishing down and ran for shelter to get out of the way. Probably a wise decision, considering what happened moments later.

Hyperion, having been alerted to the eminent starting of the match by Kronos, decided to open hostilities by raising his hand and blasting arrows made of fire everywhere. This promptly sent the nature spirits into a panic. While the trees that hosted them may not have been present and vulnerable to danger, the sight of fire still ignited an inborn fear in them. As the nature spirits were most of the army of the gods, this was quite an effective tactic. The army of monsters attacked forward first, and Percy shook his head upon seeing the disparity in forces. Terrified nature spirits were no match for the dracaena, empousa, centaurs, cyclops, and hyperborean giants. The minor gods were acquitting themselves well though, each fighting and destroying multiple opponents at the same time. A couple in particular caught his eye. He did not recognize one of them, who must have been the god of technology, as he was fiddling with a few remotes and pressing buttons. None of the monsters even made it to close range, as robots and drones surrounded him, and he even had a modified F-16 fighter appear and go on a strafe run on a regular basis. Equally interesting was his quick assessment of the field. He clearly recognized that it was a hopeless effort, and made tracks over to some of the other minor gods. He made some hand gestures, shouting at them, before they too disengaged and retreated away towards the exit from Mount Olympus, blasting any monster foolish enough to come after them. Boreas and Aeolus were doing quite well too. The five seasonal wind gods were working together, and their section of the battle field had weather that was in constant flux. One moment it would be a frigid wasteland, and then it would change into piles of leaves, before becoming a baking desert. The northern wind and his boss were using blasts of cold air to hold off the frontline troops, while the other three concentrated on actually dealing damage. The fall god was using barrages of sharp leaves to slow them down, while the spring and summer gods teamed up to throw fireballs at them, burning and incinerating them. Needless to say, the monsters quickly started to avoid them and began to look for softer targets.

Most of the remaining Olympians, seeing their army start to disintegrate, threw themselves into battle as well. Zeus, seeking glory, threw himself towards Kronos, who slowly and methodically beat him down, taking his time. Athena charged towards the Titan Hyperion, and they went spear on spear, sparring at each other from a distance of a few meters or so. Poseidon basically engaged in keeping the other titan well away from the main body of the army, aware that even a single one would decimate whatever forces were still in fighting order at the time. He could not hold them off forever on his own, and the titans he was keeping under fire slowly forced their way forward. The other gods attempted to help where they could, but were systematically overwhelmed. As soon as one of them went down that freed up more troops to help take down a harder target. Within about an hour the army of the gods was practically nonexistent. Any surviving members had the presence of mind to run away in hopes of escaping. Kronos let them go, he could care less about them. His real prize was the beheaded body of Zeus which was slumped on the ground after having been decapitated. Poseidon caught Percy's eye and winked before turning into a pillar of seawater which crashed to the ground and sank into the dirt. Lee ran onto the field before grabbing Kronos' arm and raising it high.

"And the winner is Kronos!"


	17. Chapter 17

**This is a rather important A/N, so please read this. First, Thank you for helping me reach 200 follows! I am sorry for not having updated more often. As an apology, I am rushing production, and expect to finish this story sometime over the next week and a half. I have been unable to do anything else thanks to the start of school work again. Juggling duel-credit classes, classes at home, and a part-time job, as well as leading a troop of Boy Scouts leaves little room for writing. I also lost my flash drive with this chapter on it (that was finished Friday) for a few days and rediscovered it this morning. But you are not here to read my excuses. I am hereby placing Last Hope for the Wild, Silmarils and the Door of Night, and Hera's Mistake up for adoption. Why? Three reasons. One, Most of those were started when I had just began to write. I jumped in, writing off the top of my head, with no real outline and only a vague idea of where I wanted the plotline to go. Sure, I have a basic story line, but almost no details. Also, the quality of writing on them is poor. I look at it and cringe. Second, they just are not popular at all. The more popular a story is, the more I write on it. Finally, I just have lost interest in writing them. Part of the reason I have not updated is because I already moved on from the older stuff I started and began to write the basis for another story. That one is planned out (Mostly) and I wanted to have at least 10K words in reserve before I started the story, so I have a fallback in case of writers block. I am now at that point. More accurately, about 15k in. I WILL finish MHC. I promised myself when I first started writing that I would never put any stories on Hiatus. I meant it. I will not suspend the stories. If someone want to take what I have written, or better yet, revise it, that would be great! If not, I will tend to just ignore it and occasionally write another chapter when I feel in the mood. Anyway, that leaves Edge of Dimensions, which I will continue, and Master of Eons, which I am currently thinking of scrapping and starting over. Once I finish MHC, I will either start my new story, or rewrite/revise/re-upload MHC and Hero in the stars. I apologize for whatever, if any, discomfort/disappointment this may cause. Again, I would love for someone to volunteer to be a beta, I need the help! I am posting this announcement on my profile before posting it, so… Yeah. Sorry about that guys. I just completely lost interest, they were not popular, and I jumped in half-cocked. That about sums it up. I do not own J.K Rowling. Keep in mind this is Fanfiction. *Laughs evilly* Revenge for killing Dobby! Anyway, here is one of the last chapters for this story. Hope you enjoy it.**

Percy walked into the workshop again, with another person, on old woman, trailing behind him. "Leo?" he called, scanning the workshop for a sign of the slightly eccentric son of Hephaestus.

"What?" A distant voice echoed back to him.

Percy frowned, double checking. Nope, no Leo. "Where are you?"

"You don't need to come in!" The voice sounded hurried, almost panicked. "I'll be out in a minute!" This time, Percy followed the voice to a blank section of the wall. He tentatively reached out a hand and lightly tapped the wall before flinching in expectation. When nothing happened he relaxed and shoved his whole hand into the wall. One could never tell with Leo what kind of traps he might have over his stuff. He was very protective when it came to his machinery and inventions. He walked forward, vanishing through the wall. He emerged on the other side unharmed but intrigued. An illusion. He searched the ground nearby and saw a small switch which he flipped, causing the hologram to stop broadcasting. He then took his first, real look at the stuff behind the curtain. And stopped dead. Before him was an absolute behemoth. There was no other way to describe it. In front of him stretched miles upon miles of pipes and wires, all seemingly hopelessly entangled in a massive mess. It almost resembled a jungle gym, with bars, pipes, and switches protruding in all directions at random heights.

"Leo? Mind telling me what all of this is? I am reasonably sure there wasn't this much space down here."

"Nah, don't worry man. I have it all under control. As for the space, it is remarkable what you can accomplish with the head of a robot dragon that can spit acid and fire. Anyway, I'll be right with you, so if you could please leave?" The voice trailed off instinctively.

Percy frowned, walking closer to the source of the voice, taking extreme care to not step on anything. Especially any wires. As a son of the sea god, he had a healthy appreciation for electricity and a full head of hair. He intended to keep it that way. His eye brows drew together as an elusive suspicion started to form in the back of his mind. He vaguely recognized some of the equipment, at least in theory. He had no idea what Leo could want with the tech, which was only made for one reason. No one had ever gotten it to work before, but if anyone could manage it, it would be Leo. He rounded a corner and sighed. At about 8 feet high, the roughly sphere shaped gemstone construct towered over his head. It seemed to be on some kind of lift. Leo's legs protruded out from under it as his whole upper body was hidden from view. "Leo?" He said exasperatedly. "Why are you trying to build something that can possibly, in theory, access a different world?"

He heard a large exhalation of breath from under the lift. "I suppose you saw it?"

Percy snorted. "Tad hard to miss when it is almost two feet taller than the person standing in front of it."

"I don't suppose you could walk away and pretend this was all a dream could you?"

"Nope."

"Darn it. Worth a try." Leo scooted out from underneath it and looked up, still on his back, at Percy. "Why didn't you leave?" He asked with a bit of a whine in his voice.

Percy shrugged. "Dunno. Could have been for any number of reasons. Like the fact that it is dinner time, and you have been down here all day, of the fact that I am your friend and worried about you, or maybe it was the fact that I brought you the person at the very top of your hate list." He finished nonchalantly. Leo instantly straightened up.

"Really? You brought me Dylan?" He asked hopefully.

Percy face-palmed. "Of course. That would be what you would think of. No, the person who wrote the story that killed off your favorite character…" he trailed off, hoping to jog Leo's memory.

"George R.R Martin? He killed off the Starks." Leo thought out loud.

The old lady who had been following Percy hobbled forward and slapped Leo upside the head. Leo yelped. "Watch it lady! That hurt!"

"He meant me you imbecile!" The old woman told him sternly. "The only reason you remember me is because I killed off Dobby late in the series."

Leo squinted for a moment before his mouth dropped open. "You! You are J.K. Rowling! You have a lot of nerve coming here after what you did." He growled, smacking a fist into his other hand to emphasize his point.

"Blah blah blah, whatever sonny." She waved off his threat. "I get that wherever I go. You want to hit me for that, get in line. Spoiler, it is over a hundred miles long at this point. You understand if I am not particularly scared of a skinny Latino kid." She shuffled over to a nearby seat and sat down. "Now, I believe you were a little rude. How about we start over? Hello, I am J.K. Rowling, and, as you said, my biggest claim to fame is killing Dobby. Nice to meet you." She held out a hand that Leo very reluctantly shook. His grimace as he did so publicly proclaimed he was only doing this to play nice. It was obvious Percy had a reason for bringing her here. "Now, down to business. I believe you now have a major problem for the mortals of this world, relating to titans specifically. Correct?"

Percy nodded as he found a safe looking spot on the floor and took a seat. "That's about the size of it. We can't do anything against them unless they hurt one of my guys or a mortal somehow. We have a list of people on our side, and I think we have enough force to take them down, or at the least die valiantly trying." He added, pulling a wry face.

Rowling nodded, deep in thought. "I can help you there. I am not long for this world anyway. The least I could do is make my death memorable."

"If you help us, I am sure Percy can put in a good word for you with Hades." Leo added cheerfully. Percy shot him a look that clearly said ' _Not cool Leo'_.

Rowling cast a skeptical glance at Percy. "You can do that?" He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with the subject matter.

"I guess. I think he is a friend, and he might do me a solid if I ask nicely. Or at least whatever passes for your version of the underworld. Unless you have a strong belief or influence in Greek Mythology, it is likely you will end up somewhere else." He ended uncertainly. Rowling nodded her head. "That makes sense. How can I help?"

Leo and Percy both glanced worriedly at her, she was basically volunteering to be killed, and she seemed way too chipper about it. Leo decided to alleviate any remaining vagueness about the subject. "You do realize you will be physically harmed and/or killed in this right? 'Cause I would hate for you to go into it without knowing what you were signing up for."

Rowling shook her head fondly. "I know. I don't have long anyway, might as well give my life for something worthwhile. Besides, isn't death just the next great adventure?" She said, quoting from one of her characters in the Harry Potter books.

"Whatever you say ma'am." Percy shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "Just be aware once we start the ball rolling, we can't stop it and back out."

"Certain death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?" She heaved herself out of her chair and started for the door. "I assume Zoe will tell me where to go and get me there, correct?" Leo and Percy both shrugged.

"I guess. She would know, she is the expert in that sort of thing." Leo answered for the both of them.

"Well then, wish me luck." Rowling said, as she walked out the door."

"Good luck!" They both chorused, before their shoulders slumped. They were committed now, and there was no going back. Percy recovered relatively quickly and found a place to sit, sweeping the materials already there onto the floor.

"Now then." He straightened and looked Leo right in the eyes. "Mind telling me why you were building a crystal matrix for use in an inter-dimensional contact system?"

Leo cast his eyes around the room, breaking contact and refusing to meet Percy's intense eyes that were scrutinizing him. "Well…" he scuffed the ground with his shoe sheepishly. "You weren't supposed to find out."

Percy snorted "Never would have guessed." He said gruffly, pointing out all the lengths Leo had gone to to keep this project of his secret. "Finding you in a secret room with all this stuff in here would _never_ have tipped me off that you were doing something unauthorized." He said sarcastically.

Leo flushed slightly. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I should have told someone. But, with the possible exceptions of you and Zoe, none of you would have understood anything I was talking about. I didn't want to burden you and Zoe with anything more than you already had."

Percy sighed and rubbed his face with one hand in exasperation. "Leo, what am I going to do with you? I am your friend; I would have liked to have known what you were doing here all alone. What if something had happened to you? No one would have known where you were or what to do to find you. Even if I had no clue what you were talking about, either I or someone else would have helped you with this. I am sure this wasn't set up in a night." He waved his hand, indicating all the equipment and machinery.

"Fine. I won't do it again without telling someone. Okay?" Leo asked, somewhat sulkily.

Percy nodded, satisfied with that statement. "Good. And don't think I didn't notice you trying to change the subject." He added sharply. "Again, I will ask you. What were you trying to do?" Leo's shoulders slumped as he resigned himself to revealing his secret.

"You know how some people have theorized that there are thousands of parallel universes just like ours?"

Percy nodded his agreement as his mind raced to try to discover where Leo was going with this.

"I thought it would be a good idea to try to contact one of them, see if they could help us. Maybe they have people to spare or something we can use to help us?"

Percy pursed his lips. "Leo, what you are describing could lead to mass chaos. Imagine what could happen if one of them crosses here and gets trapped? What could happen if they run into their alter ego here? Or worse, what if Kronos or a threat from their world gets here? The risks and unknowns are just too much right now Leo."

Leo frowned reluctantly, understanding where Percy was coming from. "I know. But at the time, it seemed like a good idea."

"I understand. I have to ask though; I assume you tried it already?" He got a slow nod from the Latino.

"Yes. It worked for a little while, enough for me to have an interesting discussion before it stopped working. I was trying to fix it when you found me."

"Anything I should know about?" Percy asked warily. His gaze sharpened when he saw Leo's hand creep towards his pocket, as if he wasn't even aware he was reaching to protect it instinctively.

"Not that I can think of…" He trailed off, hoping Percy would get the unspoken message. The son of the sea god clambered back to his feet as he grunted in acknowledgment.

He knew Leo was hiding something, that much was clear. But it was Leo's business, as long as it didn't threaten him or anyone else, he was reluctant to intervene. He trusted Leo, if whatever he had had been a menace he would have informed him. "If there is anything you ever need to tell me, my door is always open. We are contacting all out allies now, and Selene and I are gathering our power now. Suit up, we leave in ten minutes." Leo stared after his friend as Percy limbo-ed and ducked his way out of the room, being careful he didn't accidentally break something. One way or another, this confrontation for the future of the world would occur before nightfall.


	18. Chapter 18 Planning

**Thank you to all of those who favorited and followed within a day of me posting the last chapter. Please help me reach 70, preferably 75 reviews by the end of this story. I do intend to rewrite the first 15 or so chapters once I am done with this. I will include an amendment to that AN to tell you when I have. Please, someone, volunteer for a beta. Anyway, I can feel my muse slipping away, so roll film!**

 **I do not own PJO, HOO, or HP. I am also not a superhero like the people in this or other stories. Though I suppose I could fly out of a second story window if I really wanted too. Probably not a good idea.**

As he left Leo behind, Percy wandered the halls, thinking hard. They were committed, with no way of turning back now. He still wondered about what Leo had been hiding before dismissing it. Leo would not lie to him without a good reason.

He walked into the main room of the village, meeting Zoe inside, who had returned from dropping Rowling off. He drew her into a hug, needing the comfort then. "Have we done the right thing?" He murmured. "Sending a mortal to her death against Kronos? Is there nothing else we could have done?" He asked, almost plaintively.

"Don't worry about it." She backed up a little and caressed his face with one hand. "You did what you could to save as much as you could. You know we cannot just leave Kronos and his cronies alone. She knew that she was likely to go on this. She recognized the danger. She is giving her life to ensure that the world is a safer place. Don't you dare beat yourself up over this. Nothing is your fault and we need you in top condition for today. Am I understood?" She growled, locking her gaze on him until he nodded and muttered sheepish agreement with her point of view. "Good." The black-haired former huntress grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. "Come on, we are about to start."

They both entered and sat down in their seats. The inside of the room was larger than the outside, courtesy of having gods, titans, and children of Hecate on base. That made a lot of things more convenient. Besides, they needed the space. Between the residents, the amazons, the remnants of the gods, the romans, a few titans, and assorted other forces, things were rather cramped. Right now, one whole wall was taken up by a massive t.v. screen currently broadcasting a live feed from a camera attached to Rowling's purse.

"Where did you drop her off?" Percy asked Zoe quietly, while keeping his eye on the screen.

She shrugged. "In New York. As far as Iris could tell, that was where Hyperion was. He is the most quick tempered of all the titans, so he is most likely to lose control." Percy stared at her for a moment.

"How are you so calm about this? Letting someone die like this." His hand on her shoulder tightened as he spoke. She closed her eyes as she considered how best to answer his query.

"Honestly?" She turned to him as she slowly responded; thinking about what she intended to say as she went along. "I'm not. I may look calm and collected, but I am beating myself up inside. I hate actions that result in the loss of life, especially if they could have been avoided. For the rest of my life, after we win this, my dropping her off for her date with death will always be in the back of my head." He dropped his gaze and she grabbed his jaw with one hand, forcing him to look at her. "That is good that you feel bad. Good." She whispered violently. "If you hadn't I would have been worried. You could easily have brushed this all off as necessary and unavoidable. But you didn't. That's part of the reason I love you. The accountability, that guilt? That is what separates us from those on the other side. Never forget that." He nodded, deep in thought, before he looked up.

"You said when-" She shushed him, one hand lightly covering his lips.

"Don't even think about it. When, not if. Remember that." A hiss sounded as everyone in the room sucked in air hurriedly. Hyperion had just come on the screen.

"This is it." Someone in the audience muttered aloud. "What we've all been waiting for. Everything we have worked for boils down to this. The big one. The- mmm!" He protested as someone silenced him.

"That's enough! Pay attention! Fool around on your own time." Everyone refocused on the screen, which showed that the titan of light was simply strolling down a sidewalk, looking around as if he was bored. Rowling angled so she was going to cross in front of him, before fake stumbling into his path. He knocked into her, sending her sprawling on the concrete.

"Whoa!" A bystander shouted, having seen the sequence. "Not cool man! Hurting a little old lady? How dare you?" Sensing a problem, a crowd quickly formed, and gathered around the titan, shouting insults and deprecations at him. He flushed, visibly annoyed, before raising a hand as light started to stream from it. He bit back a snarl as he realized they were all untouchable to him, unless he felt like starting a war, so he restrained himself and forced his stiff arm down. Someone in the crowd, having seen his hand glow, shouted, "He has a weapon! Get him!" as the mist kicked in. Valiant New Yorkers (Lol) rushed forward and tackled him to the ground before shouting excitedly for a cop. You could not even see anything if Hyperion with the exception of the tips of his expensive shoes, as he was buried beneath a pile of struggling citizens. The pile heaved back and forth as he wriggled around, attempting to get free. He finally worked his way free, forcing himself not to hurt anyone, though he clearly wanted to. He shoved off one extremely persistent man before rising to his feet, fists clenched, fury rolling off of him, suit rumbled, hair askew, sunglasses broken on the ground.

"That's enough!" He yelled, the power of his voice causing everyone to freeze. "I have no weapons! See!" He turned out his pockets and showed his hands, making it look to the mortals like he was unarmed. "Nothing! Now leave me alone before I really get angry!" The power he was giving off was making the air hum with a slight greasy feeling. Thinking they were in the wrong, and in no mood to go ten rounds with someone who looked like he was a competitor for the Mr. Universe title, the bystanders used another skill that was quintessential to a New Yorker. Hide and scatter rapidly. Within ten seconds the area around him was as deserted as a ghost town, with the exception of Rowling, who was just now getting to her feet, having hammed it up for all it was worth.

Hyperion screwed his eyes shut, sticking his hands deep in his pockets, as he visibly attempted to suppress the anger welling up inside him. He had almost succeeded when-"

"YOU!" Rowling snarled. He opened his eyes to see the short old lady standing in front of him, her face inches from his own, hands on her hips indignantly. He stumbled back half a step instinctively, and she followed up on it, getting in his face. "You have some nerve young man! Knocking me over like that and not even apologizing! How rude! I should call the coppers on you."

He swelled instinctively, puffing his chest on and pushing her back. "Listen Granney." He growled. "Go away or I will make you. Permanently." The bloodlust in his voice was palpable, and the people watching from the camera shivered at the cold tone he used. Antarctica in winter time had nothing on him. To her credit, she stood her ground and would not back down.

"You dare threaten me?" SLAP! The sound rang out as her hand made contact with his cheek. He put his hand on his check, feeling the bruise, the action she had taken still sinking in. Then he roared in outrage and a ring of fire spun out form him and slammed into her, vaporizing her in an instant. Percy and a few others turned away at the last second, not wanting to see what happened to her. When the roar of the flames died down they peeked at the camera again and saw a pile of ash where the brave old woman used to be. There was a sigh of sadness that seemed to emanate from everyone there. On screen, Hyperion brushed his clothes off and straightened his hair before continuing on his journey; clearly happier now that he had unleashed some wanton destruction. He glanced both ways quickly to make sure no one had seen him before stretching and walking away.

Percy closed his eyes for a moment before his eyes snapped open and he stood up and walked to the podium in front of the audience as a hubbub erupted from the crowd. He waited patiently for a moment before realizing nobody was paying attention. "Hey!" He yelled stomping his shoe on the floor and causing a loud bang. Most people jumped before turning to the source of the noise. Once all eyes were on him he smiled. "Thank you." His tone practically dripped sarcasm before he turned serious. "Right, everyone get ready to go. Check your weapons now, you won't get a chance to later." There was a bit of a scramble and he raised his voice a little more to be heard. "If you are in a company, please head to your scheduled departure pad. That includes the Romans and the Amazons with the exceptions of the leaders!" He hurriedly added, seeing the smirk on the faces of the Amazons who though they weren't included. "Current residents of Shangri-La, you know what to do. Go on." They snapped of a salute and ran out of the room, rapidly dropping the number of people left inside. "Everybody else, rec room, five minutes!" He hopped down and ran for the door, having no interest in getting stuck in the press of bodies on the way out the door. Sure enough, he made it there first, with Zoe a close second as she had followed his lead and had been on his heels the whole way there. She took a seat on his lap and leaned against him as she watched people slowly enter the room.

Once no one else was coming in he performed a quick head count. "Let's see… Me and Zoe obviously, Leo, Hylla, Reyna and co, Selene, Iris, Thalia, Iapetus…" He continued down the list until he was satisfied everyone was there and nodded to himself. "Here is the plan. Leo is going to brief you Leo?"

The hyper Latino hopped to his feet and walked to the front, constantly fiddling with things in his hands as he did so. "Okay. So, according to the latest information we got from the wind gods, the army of the titans are mainly split up into three groups. One of them is on Mount Tam, near San Francisco. There is another rather massive group, the largest in fact, about twenty miles away from the mountain. Close enough to provide support in case of an attack, but far enough away to avoid any nasty surprises. The other is over by San Diego. The titans and the monsters seem to really like California." He added wryly, rolling his eyes.

"Leo…" Percy said warningly.

"Fine, fine, I'll get back on topic. Anyway, those are the only major concentrations of monsters that we know about, though I do reserve the right to say I told you so if any more just happen to show up. That's all I know." He nodded to the audience and quickly returned to his seat.

Percy stood, pushing Zoe off of him, before taking Leo's place at the front of the room. "I will now open the floor to suggestions. We simply do not have enough people to take them head on."

A hand rose near the back of the room and Percy pointed in that direction. "You, near the back."

"Do we happen to know where the rest of the titans area? Or are we flying blind in that regard?" Percy shrugged, having no idea about any others than Kronos. He turned to the Latino.

"Leo?"

The mechanic grunted, fingers flying on a very heavily modified IPad, not bothering to look up. Then he stopped as he seemed to find what he was looking for. "Ah-ha! Okay, according to the latest bird flock, there are a few adjustments to what I said earlier. There is a bunch of monsters on top of Othrys, at the palace. They seem to be the honor guard for Kronos and the others, shock troops if you will." He looked up and saw everyone nodding at his statement before he buried himself back in the electronic. "It seems that only two titans are actually in the palace right now. Kronos and Prometheus are there with their minions, everyone else is elsewhere. San Diego holds Oceanus, Krios, and Helios, they seem to be leading that army. Pallas, and Coeus are with the group nearby to the palace. Atlas is supposedly still stuck under the sky right now. Hyperion is still in a bit of a hissy fit in New York. We have to count on the fact that he will show up at one of the fights rather quickly, so be ready." He warned. "Eos has remained hidden for centuries, and he is assumed to have faded. Wait a minute… Helios is your brother right?" He directed this question at Selene, who nodded regretfully.

"Drat. We will have to do something about that. Anyway, Perses has so far refused to join either of the sides yet. I think he is wanting to make sure he actually ends up on the winning side this time. He likes Kronos more, but he knows you have quite the reputation as an underdog Percy. So he is staying out of it. Just be aware of the possibility of him showing up mid-fight as well. Not likely, just a precaution.

Now, for our side. We have the Titaness of the moon." He gestured towards Selene, who stood up for a minute before resuming her seat. "Tethys has decided against joining her husband's side and will help us. She said she will do her best to stop him, as their domains are very closely intertwined. Asteria will try to forestall Krios, as she is in the same situation as Tethys, with similar domains. Iapetus, also known as Bob, also known as the Impaler, also known as…" He trailed off, noticing the stares being leveled in his direction. "I think I will stop there. Anyway, he is with us too. Phoebe was on the fence, although I think that the "Unprovoked attack" (he made air quotes in the air with his fingers) should push her over here, what with her domain of law and order. So to my count, that makes eight, assuming they have not found a way to spring Atlas, which I think is a safe assumption, on their side. We have _maybe_ five, possibly four. I am obviously not counting Percy here in part of that estimation, though he might be able to hold his own. So that means any and all gods will need to pull their weight, we need to go all hands on deck for this."

"Thank you Leo." Percy surveyed the room again. "So it sounds like we need to make San Diego a priority. It has the most titans, but is also close to the mortals. I would not put it past them to threaten to kill them all if we do not surrender. So we need to get them outside the city before they can do any damage. To that end, we need to send probably half of Shangri-La, plus the demigods, Romans, and Amazons, to clear them out. Zoe and I, with Selene, will take on the group close to Mount Tam, taking the other part of Shangri-La and whatever hunters are still alive. We will send the other titans to San Diego, giving us even numbers to keep the enemy occupied while the foot troops take care of the monsters." He grimaced as he did some mental arithmetic. "We don't have anyone else to take on Mount Tam. Once the other two groups win, we will have to combine forces and then storm it, and hope they don't interfere in the meantime."

"Not to worry." Everyone turned to Leo, who stood up, jamming the pad he had been paying attention to into his tool belt. "I can handle that."

Percy cocked an eyebrow. "I know you're good, but good enough to take on a lot of monsters, and two titans, one of which is the master of time? Are you sure Leo?"

The demigod nodded. "Yes. I have a foolproof plan. I can do this, give me a chance." He pleaded. Percy continued to regard him for a moment, scrutinizing him harshly, before nodding and talking under his breath to himself.

"Yes. I imagine you can." He raised his voice. "Very well. Leo will handle Mount Tam." As he finished the pronouncement, his face seemed to grow older and more haggard as he thought about the fact that he was quite possibly handing out a death warrant to one of his best friends. He clapped his hands together, banishing all doubt from his mind as he needed to appear confidant. "All right people. You all know what to do. Go gear up, we have some titans to kill."


	19. Chapter 19 Finale and credits

"Selene, Iris, whenever you are ready." The titan and the goddess raised their hands, drawing up their power to transport the troops. Percy cast a glance around the room and saw a lot of worried faces. "Hey everyone! We got this. Once we beat the titans, we are gonna have a party, tabs on me!" This got a bit of a cheer from the residents of Shangri-La, who had been on the receiving end of some of his parties before, and knew they were not to be missed. They were usually the social event of the decade. "Everyone please head to your designated area!" Everyone made sure they were standing in the correct place as Iris and Selene went around sending them to their designated battles. When it was Leo's turn he raised a hand.

"Can you put me just outside Mount Othrys, on top of Mt. Tam?" Leo asked the Titaness. She nodded and moments later moonlight enveloped him as he found himself just outside what were formerly the ruins of the titans' seat of power.

The army going to Sand Diego went after him in the order. That one required Iris and Selene both with a little help from Percy. They arrived on the beach of San Diego before marching into the city. The orders were clear. Get the monsters and titans out of the city at all costs. The titans were the hardest to lure out. Eventually, Iapetus, Asteria, and Tethys pretended to want to meet with them about joining Kronos, and that was enough to lure them out. For the monsters it was much simpler. They simply had a megaphone that had been altered to sound like Kronos. Jonathan bellowed through it at the top of his lungs and ordered all the monsters out of the city on the double, as the demigods had been started. Whoever arrived last would be killed, painfully. They practically trampled over each other to get out of the city and to the beach. Once out, they spotted the remaining romans, and the half of Shangri-La that had come, and immediately launched an attack. Reyna, in overall command of the attacking force, could see a massive firefight going on further down the beach between the six titans, who were holding nothing back. She hoped that some help would arrive soon, as while Percy had successfully calculated the normal monsters, the plans had not included several drakons and a lernaean hydra, who were currently running rampant through the left wing of the lines. Jonathan was doing everything he could to keep them contained with the help of the Amazons, but it was not enough. Soon, she was forced to enter the fight as well, dashing to wherever the line of demi-gods seemed weakest. She soon cleared an area around her as she leaned on her sword to catch her breath. Her eyes bugged out when she saw the mountain of water about to crash down on them. "Watch out!" She yelled, and braced herself as best she could.

The massive wave thundered down, destroying any remaining structural integrity among the roman lines, and drowning many. The monsters, who had remained mostly unaffected by the tidal wave, raced forward. Soon, what had been a pitched battle became a massacre, with the romans, still dazed and disorganized and often half-drowned, no match for the seemingly endless waves of the monsters. That was when a hunting horn echoed around the area, continuing to get louder as it reechoed. The battle ground to a halt, as everyone was wondering who the new player was. Jonathan's heart sank as the right flank of the monsters cried out and surged forward before he shouted in relief as he saw dozens fall to arrows. These did not glow silver, like the arrows of the hunt he had been warned about. These were a deep forest green. About two dozen teenaged girls in green parkas with bows and hunting knives rushed to the assistance of the romans, backed up by several brown and gray wolves. Jonathan ran up to the girl who seemed to be in charge. "Excellent timing."

The girl turned. "Thank you. You do not have horrible manners… For a male." She sniffed.

"You sound an awful lot like those hunters or Artemis, barring the color scheme."

She swung a fist in his direction, but he simply ducked beneath it. "Think of us as a version of the hunters, with a much more sensible color and not beholden to any stupid goddess." She grumbled.

"I take it Percy sent you?"

Phoebe glared. "We do not move at the command of anyone but me. He simply set me on my path and asked for my assistance. Now, can we get back to the battle?

"Of course my lady." He ducked into a mock bow and yelped when she grabbed him by the shirt color and drew him close, getting in his face.

"Call me that again, and…" She pulled out a hunting knife and brandished it in his face. He paled and nodded his head frantically.

Phoebe smiled sweetly. "Good." She dropped him and returned her attention to the fight, which even with the revamped hunters was still going poorly.

* * *

Bob cursed. Only he and Asteria were left, as Tethys had been knocked out pretty early. She had not wanted to hurt her husband and had merely dissolved the attacks he sent after the demigods as she held back. He had no such reservation. Only a few minutes into the fight he had knocked her unconscious, sent a massive tidal wave at the demigods, and had helped gang up on the two defiant titans. Three on two with beings the power of titans was no laughing matter. Asteria was forced to devote most of her attention to ensuring that Krios did not land a meteor on the demigods, and was not much help. That meant he got to fight one of the most powerful of the titans and the titan of the sun by himself. Joy. He cursed as Helios blinded him again. He had this annoying habit of sending off flashes of light every minute or so. Helios began to glow, a sure sign that he was about to enter his true form in an attempt to end this fight. Then the glow was abruptly cut off. He cracked his eyes open to see Helios stuck inside a pillar of water that doused the light. A bronze skinned man with black hair, with a fishing rod walked up next to him, wagging his finger at Helios.

"Now, now, Helios, you should know better than to enter your true form with others around." Poseidon laughed.

Oceanus growled. "You and the weakling cannot hope to defeat us." Poseidon nodded with a smile.

"I know. But I am not going to beat you."

"Then who is?"

Poseidon jabbed a thumb towards the sea. "He is." Both the titans turned to look and got blindsided by Perses who sent them both sprawling. He gave Perses a high-five. "Excellent timing Perses."

"Thank you. Nice distraction. Now, I believe a pair of strong titans plus yourself should easily be able to handle these two?"

"Of course. The demigods will be fine." He pointed. Rank upon rank of cyclops marched out of the sea and fell upon the rear of the monster army. "I sent some of my guys to help."

Perses grinned savagely. "Perfect. I have been waiting for this for a long time." He growled as he readied his spear, eyeing Oceanus. "I take high, you take low?"

"Sounds good." With that, the unlikely alliance of God and Titan swept forward and engaged the titan of the ocean.

* * *

Leo swallowed, before adjusting his backpack. He fiddled with something under his left sleeve of his long sleeved shirt, before taking a deep breath and striding through the entryway. The sound of his footsteps against the marble echoed throughout the chamber. He took a few turns before entering the main hall. The titans he had come in search of were both there, staring at him as if he was crazy.

Leo gulped. This was the part on which everything rode. This plan had seemed so much simpler on paper. "Kro-" he called before stopping, as his voice cracked from nervousness. "Kronos! I challenge you to single combat under the ancient laws."

Kronos arched an eyebrow. It was a human expression he had become quite fond of. "What do you know of the ancient laws godling?" he grated out.

"Enough to know that a god or titan must be challenged in order to engage in combat with a demigod!" Leo responded, growing slightly more confidant. What he had said was true, but he was hoping that Prometheus would not suggest that the personal guard just kill him, after all, they had no such restrictions.

"My lord." Prometheus interjected. "I believe it would be unwise to engage in combat. He clearly has a plan. I recommend we just have the monsters wipe him out." He finished disdainfully. Kronos thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"No. He has no hope of besting me, and I needed a warm up anyway. The last demigod to challenge me like this was that upstart Jackson." He snarled as he said the name. "What weapons do you choose demigod?"

"Whatever weapons we want." Leo responded, before shrugging off the backpack and sliding it across the floor into one corner as he drew a pair of hammers out of his tool belt. He really hoped that Kronos did not ask him to specify. What he was carrying could be considered a weapon. Just barely. This whole plan would fall apart if Kronos knew what was coming. The titan of time shrugged.

"Then let us begin." He stated silkily. He stalked forward, in no hurry to finish of the half blood in front of him. Leo threw a few fireballs, which just bounced off of the titan. The titan snorted in contempt as he walked closer. "Please. That was pathetic." This time Leo threw a jar of petroleum jelly and launched a fireball at it, causing it to erupt into a much larger fireball. Kronos walked out the other side, with his armor slightly scorched. "Better. But not good enough." He effortlessly froze Leo in time as he walked closer, before dropping his scythe before punching Leo across the room. This pattern repeated itself, with Leo unable to do anything as Kronos was clearly playing with him.

Then Kronos' expression hardened. "Bored now." He hit Leo once last time before summoning a sword and stabbing Leo with it, not wishing to soil his weapon with the blood of one who was unworthy. Leo's lips moved slightly and Kronos unfroze him and leaned closer. "What was that?" he asked mockingly.

"Got you, you son of a b****." Leo smiled before pressing a small button. An ominous beeping came from his backpack. One of the dracaena slithered over and overturned it, sending the contents tumbling to the floor. A container hit the floor, with the universal symbol for radiation plastered on it. "Go to Hades." Leo whispered viciously as the mini nuclear bomb exploded, instantly destroying Mount Othrys, himself, both the titans, and half the mountain.

* * *

Elsewhere, about ten minutes previously…

"Take us close by." Percy whispered to Selene. "I need to talk with Zoe before we go into battle." She eyed him and let out a resigned sigh. She knew him quite well, and his body language proclaimed that he would not be swayed. She snapped her fingers twice in succession, sending the residents of Shangri-La and the hunters to the camp of the monsters, while she took Percy, Zoe, and herself about half a mile away from the titans. Percy grabbed Zoe's arm and steered her away from their companion. After they had gone over the crest of a nearby hill Percy sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. He _just knew_ this was going to come back to bite him. "You're not cut out for this." Percy said firmly. Zoe crossed her arms, staring at him indignantly.

"Excuse me?" She asked frostily.

Percy shook his head. "You are strong Zoe, as strong as I could help you become. But these are titans, and you just are not on their power level. I will not risk you. That is final." He waved his hand and Zoe's eyes widened as she felt herself begin to forcibly transform. She lunged forward and attempted to slap him. Percy made no move to avoid it, knowing he deserved it. Her hand faded away inches from his face as he picked up the pair of black knives from the ground. "I'm sorry." He murmured to the blades. They buzzed angrily at him as he almost dropped them. This was the first time the blades had _not_ wanted to be wielded by him, and was actively resisting his use of them. He sighed and sheathed the knives for now. Hopefully Zoe would understand this was all for her own good after this mess was over. He pulled out Riptide and uncapped it, examining the length of his oldest weapon. He would need every edge of familiarity and skill he could get if he wanted to win. He walked up to Selene and indicated that he was ready. She snapped her fingers and took them both near the pair of titans, who spun and had their weapons out almost immediately.

"I'll take the old man!" She called as engaged the titan of the north, Coeus. He sent a blast of cold air at her and she did nothing to avoid it, merely raising her eyebrow. "Please. Ever heard of the dark side of the moon? You are going to have to get much colder if you want that to do anything." She said disdainfully before lunging forward, attempting to skewer him with her spear. He shot a blast of cold at the grass, freezing it and causing Selene to lose her footing. She staggered before deflecting his sword of her shield and reengaging him.

Percy took on the titan of destruction. He dodged the first few strikes with an eye to identify whatever technique the titan was using. To his dismay, he was unable to. He would have brief moments of brilliance before just attempting to beat down the demi-god defense with sheer force. He and Selene went back to back for a minute, making it impossible for them to be flanked.

Percy deflected Pallas' spear over his left shoulder with the flat of his blade, skillfully avoiding the lunge. He heard a cry of protest from behind him. "Percy! Watch out, you almost sent that into my face!" Selene yelled. He cringed. He had forgotten they were almost back to back. No more dodging out of the way.

"Sorry!" He called back, blocking the next strike and grunting as it jolted his arm. "Not used to having someone immediately behind me when I fight."

"All is forgiven if you buy me some rock candy when we get back!" She called, bunkering behind her shield for a moment to avoid the blast of cold air that Coeus sent at her.

"Deal." He said instantly. She could have driven a much harder bargain if she had wanted, and they both knew it. They took the issue of causing accidental harm very seriously. Percy's eyes narrowed as he kept his eyes glued to the sharp point of Pallas' spear. For a titan of destruction, he did not vary his approach much. He had a few skill moves, but his biggest strength was just brute forcing his way through the defenses of any who dared to stand and face him. His arm was already aching and sore, and he had been deflecting as much as he could. He would need to try to end this quickly before his opponent would get lucky. With the strength of the titan, one glancing hit would be all it took to take him out of the fight. He was strong, but could not magically heal like titans and gods, at least not as fast. This time, when Pallas attacked again, he charged forward, towards the spear wielding titan. He contorted his body out of the way before slamming his shield into his face as hard as he could, sending the titan of destruction to the ground.

Percy had been using Riptide thus far. Zoe was still in a snit, and he was going to need every edge of familiarity and skill to stand against the titans, who had been further empowered by the rise of Kronos. But now, with a chance to banish the titan forever, he capped Anaklusmos quickly and pulled out his black knives. He began to bring them down towards the neck of the still slightly stunned titan, who tried to move out of the way, his eyes filled with tears from the hit to his nose. Then the ground and air shook with an ominous rumble and roar as Percy staggered back a pace. Selene and Coeus ceased their fighting to look in the direction of the disturbance as well. It seemed to come from close to the top of Mt. Tam. Then there was a small flash of light, before the mountain exploded, sending shockwaves of light and energy in every direction. One moment it was there, and the next… The top half of the mountain was gone, vaporized, with a mushroom shaped smoke emission. ' _Leo.'_ Percy realized. ' _He did it.'_

But it would come with a cost. The distraction as all the titan needed, as he surged to his feet and began beating at Percy wildly. The son of the sea god was forced backwards, defending himself wildly. He was still holding the set of black hunting knives, which were not the best weapon of choice against a long spear. Finally, Percy made a mistake. He brought the knives up to block the head of the spear, and the titan of destruction instantly spun the spear and lunged out with the base towards his unguarded stomach. The wooden end slammed into him, knocking the air out of him as cracking a few ribs. The impact, taken full on, sent him flying backwards until he crashed back to earth. At this point, Percy was in a world of pain, between his ribs and his left shoulder, which he was sure he had broken in his landing. He desperately tried to suck some air back into his lungs as the titan stalked forward. Pallas raised his spear high over the prone body of the hero. "The first blood in a new war!" The titan of destruction crowed aloud before bringing the spear down.

Percy, who still gripped the hafts of his knives with his nerveless fingers, felt his hands be forced open as the knives transformed back into Zoe. She took the spear through her stomach as Percy's cry of "NO!" rang out through the still night air.

She doubled over, curling up around the spear instinctively. The titan pulled on the shaft, trying to pull it out, ignoring the cries of pain that came from the demi-titan. He eventually gave it up and dropped it, before summoning another. "Useless girl. Let's try this again!" He again raised the spear, before yelling in pain as a bust of brilliant golden light hit him in the face, blinding him. He raised a hand to cover his face and was blindsided when a large figure plowed into his side, sending him reeling back. For just a moment, the night was banished as a brilliant light shone in the sky over the edge of the horizon, burning the monsters who were sensitive to light and filling the fighters with hope. Then the stream of golden light ceased and the night reigned again. Hovering in front of Percy was a tall figure, with rosy fingers and a light pink gown woven with flowers, wearing a tiara and having large white-feathered wings. She held a mace in her right hand, which was emitting a harsh light to the area around it.

She raised her mace and swung it. A beam of light shot straight into Coeus, who was driven back by the hit, giving Selene the time she needed to disengage. She risked a glance towards the newcomer and her eyes widened. "Eos?"

The Titan of the dawn inclined her head. "Sister."

"What are you doing here?"

Eos arched her brow, as if she was saying 'are you seriously asking me that?' "Well it was this, who will be the winning side if I have anything to say about it, or join Kronos, who is enamored with me." She finished disdainfully, wrinkling her nose. "Anyway, less talking and more fighting."

"Just like old times?" Selene asked with a smile.

"Exactly. And you know what that means-"

"Girl power!" they shouted together, before the fighting began anew. Eos was having a relatively easy time of it. A spear was not the ideal weapon to be using against a mace, and between her earlier attack and Percy, Pallas was already hurting.

"Stand still and fight!" he yelled, swinging and missing as she gracefully dodged out of the way.

"If that's what you want." He lunged and she deflected his weapon once more, sending him stumbling forward as he did not meet the anticipated resistance. She quickly began spinning in a full circle to gather momentum before backhanding him with the spiked club, sending him crashing to the ground, out cold. She strode over and raised her mace before bringing it down on him again, as his body burst into dust as he was defeated. "One down." She announced, as she turned to see how her sister was doing.

The answer? Not well. Selene's strength had never been close combat, and it showed. Coeus performed a complicated maneuver and forced her to drop her spear as he disarmed her and shoved her back. He ignored her, seizing the chance to try and kill the demigod that had started this entire war. He ran forward and lunged with his sword, just as Eos' warning of "Look out!" reached his ears. Percy began to turn, but never had a chance. The sword entered his back just as Eos' mace and Selene's spear slammed into Coeus, killing him instantly from the wounds of the weapons. He burst into dust satisfied, knowing that he had killed that upstart son of Poseidon.

* * *

The residents of Shangri-La gathered around the scene of the fight and found Eos in the background, with Selene on her knees sobbing next to the dead bodies of their leaders. Several had seen what had happened and busied themselves spreading the news. A somber atmosphere began to dampen the happy news of the defeat of Kronos. Selene finally wiped her tears away and stood up before addressing the growing crowd. "They were a great pair of leaders and people. I was honored to call them friends for the relatively short time I knew them. We will never forget them. Ever." She sniffled for a moment before directing a question at Thalia. "Didn't your mistress once do something to Zoe?" Thalia nodded, and the beginnings of a smile began to form on her face as she realized where the Titaness was going with this. "Well I can't have her outperforming me. In that case…" She closed her eyes and gathered the moonlight around her, before pulling it into one ball and shouting it into the sky. Everyone's eyes followed the glowing sphere of moonlight as it shot into the sky.

"Look at the moon!" Someone yelled, directing everyone's attention. In the shining orb of the full moon, there was no longer just one figure. The Man in the Moon had moved over and another person had joined him. They sat next to each other, keeping watch over the world below. One figure was clearly a girl, and the other was holding a short sword. Selene smiled as she surveyed her handiwork before the sound of an impact caused everyone to turn.

A small curly haired Latino kid fell from the sky, thudding into the ground close to the silent residents of the hidden valley. A hand popped up from the mini crater. "What was with that white missile? I almost got hit with it! I knew that grabbing that healing vial from a different dimension would pay off! I died and came back! But I'm okay everyone! I got Kronos guys! I almost made it back here faster, but my board died partway through. But I made it!" Leo yelled exuberantly, climbing out of the hole he had created when he crash landed. He could not stand still, bouncing on his feet constantly. It was almost as if he was hyper. He looked around and quickly sobered as he realized the atmosphere. He was still glowing from the left arm as he ran forward and slid on his knees next to Selene. "No." he whispered, taking in the bodies of Percy and Zoe that lay still on the earth. "It can't be."

Selene nodded sadly. "I am afraid it is true. Zoe threw herself in the way to save Percy, and then Coeus bested me for a moment and used the opportunity to stab Percy."

"So this is your fault?" Leo growled. Selene nodded reluctantly. Leo threw himself at her, beating at her with his clenched fists that glowed cherry red with heat. She made no move to defend herself, knowing that she was in the wrong, and he could not do irreparable damage anyway. Punches continued to rain on her face before Leo finally could not take it anymore. He stopped attacking her and curled up into a ball. His mind still refused to accept that Percy was gone. Surely any moment he would stand up and laugh. 'Got you!' he would yell, and they would all have a good laugh over the prank. Or he would walk up in a moment, the way the campers said he did when he returned for the first time from the labyrinth. "He trusted you." He whispered. "And because you were not good enough, he's gone."

Selene flinched at the unfair accusation before admitting to herself that, in a roundabout way, what the fire user had said was correct. Percy had trusted her to watch his back, and she had failed him. Close combat had never been her strong suit. She was more of a long range kind of fighter. Artemis was like a mix between her two extremes. Good at close combat and good at archery, though Selene was better with a bow and throwing knives. The titan of the moon pulled herself to her feet, her enhanced healing ability already working to repair the wound caused by the son of Hephaestus. "For what it's worth, I am sorry." She said regretfully. "I should have done better. But-"

She was cut off by a gasp from Thalia, who pointed with a shaking hand at Percy's body. It was glowing a soft white, a bright, vibrant white shine that slowly grew brighter. A form started to stand up and Leo scrambled to his feet in excitement. Percy had done it again! He had found a way to cheat death once more! Then it was with a plummeting heart that he realized he could see straight though him. The white… spirit, for lack of a better word, smiled at their dumbfounded faces and smirked before giving a small wave. "Percy?" Selene whispered. The spirit nodded, giving her a wink, before pulling a page of paper and a pencil out of nowhere. He began to write on it, pausing to sharpen his pencil every few minutes. Finally, when he was done, he had a massive stack of ghostly paper in his arms, and each one had a name at the top. He picked up the top page and looked at it, before finding the owner of the name and tapping them with the page. The sheet of paper vanished and Reyna collapsed, as the words that had been on the paper appeared inside her head as a message for her to listen to. This process was repeated with everyone who stood there watching, before he took the last two pieces and tapped Leo and Selene simultaneously. He gave them a sad smile before turning away, not giving them anytime to review and digest his last message. He walked over to Zoe's body, before crouching by her body and giving her shoulder a small shake. Her body started to glow as well as Percy straightened up and extended a hand towards her. A see through hand reached up and grasped it, as Zoe allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She engulfed Percy in a hug, and he responded, grasping her tighter as she whispered something in his ear.

He finally nodded, and they separated. Percy held up his right hand, fingers extended, with one digit folding down every second. When he hit zero he and Zoe both gave a perfectly choreographed bow in the direction of their audience. When they were standing upright again, Percy offered her his arm like a gentleman, which she took with a smile. Still looking into each other's eyes, they both took a step up, as they found footing on empty air. They did it again. And then again. By now, they were ten feet in the air, as if they were climbing an invisible staircase only they could see. Their forms became more see through the higher they climbed, until finally, you could only see their outlines against the back drop of the stars. Then even those winked out, and the awestruck audience was left staring up into the night sky, and the sound of silence reigned supreme.

 **Final A/N. What a ride this has been. This is, I am afraid, the last chapter of this story. I am not planning an epilogue, this is supposed to be a standalone finale. Any untied ends (And there are several I left on purpose) well… I am sure your imagination can come up with something better than anything I could write. On a brighter note, this is now over twice the length of my other complete story! Tripletronicle has agreed to be my beta, and has given this chapter his stamp of approval. Please make sure to check out his profile. I apologize for the delay, as Triple can attest, I had an idea for both my next story, and a collection of one shots, the beginnings of both of which he is now reading. Immortality is not all it is cracked up to be by the way. Not everything always turns out perfectly for the heroes in the end. I really appreciate all the reviews I got for this (Even though they were not all positive). The constructive criticism helped a lot. I hope to see you guys again soon with my next story. Anyway, on to the thank you(s)!**

 **Circle of Honor (An extra special shout out to those who reviewed)**

Tripletronicle, OfPensAndPencils, Limeime, BlackIce8812, American Mayhem( Who helped give me the kick to get me over the finish line), Guest x 16, josh01264, anabethchase653, TheMasterTrident13, XxOSOKxH4WKxX, Chromitez, AriaStorm, Awesomeness, Mercy, SilentSniper05, Zero Dark Thirty, *Me! ;)* ChobeeBoy, OoOXylionOoO, JESSICA, picnic990, LiteratureGirl12, fluffyshygirl11, Captin jar, PerseusTheDestroyer999, perabdibda, The King of the Tophat Clan, Stezia, Jk percabeth reader, GodoftheSea221.

 **A very special thank you to those who favorited and followed!** (I started to put the names here, but gave up after the first fifty or so. There were simply too many for me to transcribe, 'cause you guys are awesome!)


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